


Love Boat

by WriterFreak001



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-12 06:17:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 53,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3346649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterFreak001/pseuds/WriterFreak001
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this FFN onto FFN.Net soooo now I am adding it here! :)

**WriterFreak001:**

So this is my interpretation of what might happen in the 16th episode of SCORPION. Please note that this is a separate fanfiction story than from my stories of the "Masterminds of Deceit" series. So, Drew in this story is not a bad guy. Except, at the end of the story, I do not plan on bringing him in. I promise, this is 100% WAIGE aaaaand a liiiiittle bit of QUINTIS.

Anyway, depending on how long it turns out to be, it might be a multi-part one-shot.

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

 **Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated M as a safety precaution.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

****

**Chapter 1**

**~ SCORPION ~**

As Walter made his way down the stairs to the lower level of the garage, he was not expecting to see Toby and Sylvester pinning silly Valentine's Day decorations along the interior walls of the building. Happy was at her desk, minding her own business. Like him, she never cared for Valentine's Day. It was simply another exploited holiday that benefited commodity and consumerism. However, for reasons unknown to Walter, Toby and Sylvester celebrated the romantic holiday anyway. Even though Walter didn't particularly care for holidays because of their ascribed values, he didn't mind the decorations. He wanted his friends to make Scorpion their home so if they celebrated certain holidays, he would either visit Megan or participate in the activities for general support (but he only did the latter if someone asked him to stay).

"Hey, Walter," Sylvester smiled and waved at the 197 IQ genius as he made his way to his desk. Sylvester stopped what he was doing and slowly approached Walter.

"What is it, Sly?" Walter forced a smile as he looked up at his friend.

"I was wondering…," Sylvester wiped his sweaty hands against his pants, "If it would be too troublesome for Megan to join in on the activities Paige has planned for the fourteenth."

Knowing that Megan had always enjoyed Valentine's Day and had been wanting to spend more time with the team, Walter didn't see why his sister _couldn't_ have fun on Valentine's Day. He wondered if it was Paige's idea to invite his sister, knowing that if Megan was going to participate in the festivities planned for Saturday, then Walter wouldn't have an excuse to ditch the party. Remembering the promise he had made to Megan, telling her that they would create new memories together, he smiled at his friend and nodded. "I don't think it would. I can pick her up and bring her here before the party begins on Saturday."

"Okay! Cool! I'll go tell Toby so he can pick up a few more things at the store later." Sylvester grinned and left to go talk to the shrink. As Walter booted up his computer, the door to the garage opened and then closed as Paige and Ralph walked into the building.

"Wow!" Paige exclaimed as she marveled at the decorations, "You guys really go all out."

"The decorations were Sly's idea," Toby smirked as he jabbed his thumb into Sylvester's shoulder. "I helped, though."

"We wanted to get an early start on the decorating in case we are busy with cases throughout the week." Sylvester added with a proud smile. "Oh! And Walter said Megan could come!"

Paige glanced at Walter and then smiled at the human calculator. "Great! 'Cuz I've already invited her." Paige laughed as Ralph made his way to her computer.

"Oh, so you already knew she could come?" Sylvester inquired as he pumped his hands with Germ-X.

"Nope," Paige smirked. "I figured I'd go ahead and invite her; that way, if Walter said 'no,' then he wouldn't have a choice but to change his mind."

"I like your approach, Miss Dineen." Toby lifted his eyebrows, displaying how impressed he was with Paige's mischievousness. "Very, very devious. I'm likin' this new side of you."

"Well," Paige walked over to Ralph and ruffled his hair, "After spending so much time with all of you guys, I've learned that if I want to get something done, I've got to do it myself."

"I think Walt's authority issues are rubbing off on you, Paige." Toby smirked and winked at Walter.

"Maybe," Paige shrugged before bending down, next to Ralph's ear to tell him to go and get some breakfast. Ralph nodded, hopped off of Paige's chair and made his way to the kitchen.

"So where's BioDad?" Toby asked as he leaned back into his chair. "I'm surprised he's not here yet."

"Not that it's any of your business, but Drew received a callback so he's on his way to Portland, Maine to pitch for another trial. He'll know if he gets the job after they review his pitching skills one more time." Paige replied as she passed Toby's desk and headed for the kitchen to assist her son. Paige's answer was music to Walter's ears; not only did he not have to deal with Drew's inferiority for the rest of the week, but callbacks usually meant the position was guaranteed. Getting a callback was like getting a second interview with the company, and since baseball required a certain skillset as opposed to Corporate America, the odds of Drew _not_ getting the job were slim. Walter pushed himself away from his desk and followed Paige into the kitchen. He leaned against the stairwell and watched her pour milk into Ralph's cereal. "Yes, Walter?" She caught him staring at her as she put the milk back into the fridge.

"It was, um, it was nice of you to invite Megan to the events you have planned on Saturday," Walter said as he walked over to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Even if it was, um, without my permission."

"You're welcome." Paige smiled and then poured her a glass of orange juice. She walked over to the table and sat down next to Ralph as the boy slowly ate his cereal.

"Right. Yeah. Okay." Walter nodded as he ruffled Ralph's hair and then turned to leave when Paige called his name. "Hm?" He caught her gaze as he pivoted back around to find out what she wanted.

"Sit." She pointed to the chair next to her.

Without a word, he obeyed her demand and sat down in the seat adjacent to her. Ever since had admitted to Paige that he cared a lot for both her and her son a few weeks ago, it felt a little awkward for him to be around her. She had made it very clear that she had no intention of taking Ralph out of LA, and he was grateful for her decision to stay in California, but he couldn't help but wonder if _Ralph_ was the only reason she had wanted to stay. He couldn't deny that he felt a strange, but very real, attachment to Paige; Ralph wasn't the only one who made Walter feel like he was a better person. Paige did too, but he didn't know how to verbalize his feelings regarding how much _she_ , alone, had impacted his life. He barely had enough courage to reveal the level of care he had developed for her son; he could barely fathom how much courage it would take for him to divulge the inexplicable feelings and desire he felt every time he was near her.

As he sat in silence, Ralph finished his breakfast and excused himself from the table to clean his dishes. When the boy disappeared up the stairs to brush his teeth in the bathroom up in the loft, Paige finally spoke. "In the event that Drew _does_ get the job in Portland, I'll need you to help me explain to Ralph that his father will be leaving again." Her statement caught Walter's attention, but as he looked at her, she stared at the table. "Ralph has grown closer to his father in the past few months, and I'm afraid how Ralph might respond if Drew leaves for Portland."

"Does Ralph not know about Drew's tryouts?"

"He does," Paige nodded, "But he might be confused at first, seeing as Drew's initial intent in coming to LA was to connect with Ralph."

"I see," Walter ran his hand through his hair. "You're worried Ralph might misinterpret you and think the two of you are going with Drew as well."

"Something like that." Paige replied as she rose from her chair and placed her glass into the sink.

"I'll do what I can," Walter said; he stood up as well and set his coffee mug into the sink as well. "I can't guarantee a positive response from him, though – even _if_ it's hypothetical at this point."

"I know," Paige whispered as she reached down and squeezed his hand. As Ralph walked down the stairs, she released his palm and slowly made her way over to her son. "Are you ready to go?"

Ralph nodded and took Paige's hand as Toby casually approached Walter from Happy's desk. Walter watched how slow the woman and her son were walking; it was as if they were waiting for something. But what? He didn't know. "You know," Toby whispered as he rocked on his heels, "she _clearly_ has the hots for you, Walt."

"Stop psychoanalyzing." Walter muttered as he continued to watch Paige.

"Then _you_ stop staring." Toby chuckled.

Walter ignored him. "You're reaching for something. What is it?"

"I know Paige has agreed to stay in LA," Toby started as he lowered his voice, "and aside from Ralph, I _also_ know there's another pretty damn good reason why she wanted to stay. I'm not at liberty to say what that reason is, but I can tell you _more_ than just want Paige to stay because she's an asset to the team, Walt. I heard _everything_ you had said to Paige the afternoon Ralph won the science fair competition – I was sleeping on the couch, remember?" His statement caught Walter's attention. "Anyway, you told Paige that you wanted both Ralph and her to stay because you didn't want Ralph to leave…, and then you ended your emotional spiel by redirecting the entire focus of your monologue onto Paige when you told her you also cared for her."

"What's your point, Toby?" Walter was growing anxious as Paige and Ralph neared the door.

"What you _said_ about her that day _may_ have had a big influence on her decision." Toby replied quietly, "So my advice to you is this: if you genuinely care for Paige, then don't push her away. I've noticed how awkward you've been around her for the past three weeks. If you don't make some sort of move soon, she'll get the impression that you're not interested and just _might_ change her mind about Portland."

"She wouldn't do that." Walter frowned.

"No?" Toby raised an eyebrow. "Are you willing to sit here and wait for it to happen?"

"This conversation's over." Walter said as he marched away from the kitchen and called Paige's name. The woman turned around as he offered to drive. She smiled, nodded and handed Walter the keys to her Chevy.

As the three walked out of the garage, Toby walked up to Happy and smirked. "And _that_ , my friend, is how you do it." Happy grunted and slapped a wad of cash into Toby's hands. "Pleasure doing business with you." Toby winked and then wheeled around and headed for his desk.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**WriterFreak001:**

Thank you to all of you who decided to follow this story through!

By the way, a guest reviewer named **Annabelle** wrote a review for my story "Sleepless in Seattle," and had a question about what Walter had said in the episode "Charades" in regards to Paige's dream. I couldn't find an alternative way to reach you, Annabelle, so hopefully you are reading this little note. :) I wasn't entirely sure what Walt had said when I wrote "Sleepless in Seattle," but after the episode aired, it was downloaded to my iTunes so I checked the subtitles. Walt does indeed say "That we enjoyed it" and not "That means you relive it." I hope this helps!

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated M as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

****

**Chapter 2**

**~ SCORPION ~**

"Bye Walter," Ralph waved as his mother escorted him to the school's entrance while Walter remained in the car. He watched how Paige gave her son a hug and a kiss before sending him off into the school building. When she returned, she climbed into the passenger's seat of the car and buckled herself in before Walter pulled out of the parking lot and merged back into traffic.

"Seeing as I've coerced you into attending the Valentine's Day party on Saturday," Paige finally spoke after sitting through ten minutes of dead silence as Walter drove back to the garage, "what can I do to make the social function more tolerable for you?"

What a loaded question. "I'm sure, whatever you have planned, will be fine."

"Oh really?" Paige raised her eyebrow as if she was going to challenge Walter to another social experiment. "We'll see about that."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Walter inquired as he slowed to a stop and turned the right flicker on.

"I guess you'll just have to find out on Saturday, won't you." Paige shrugged and smiled as though she had just won a grand prize from some silly competition.

"Fine." Walter frowned. The last time Paige had challenged him to something, he had forgotten how to breathe when her fingers had tantalized his neck as they weaved through the ends of his hair. Knowing what normals usually celebrated Valentine's Day for, he feared what the young mother had in store for him on Saturday.

"By the way," she changed the subject, "if you were going to buy a Valentine's Day gift for a special someone, what would you buy?"

"Nothing," Walter answered quickly. When he noticed Paige's frown, he cleared his throat and clarified his answer. "Valentine's Day is nothing but another holiday exploited by the card industry. While February 14th may seem significant to most people around the world, it has no personal value to me. Besides, while I think romantic love is nothing more than a form of junk science, the fact that men and women expect gifts from their significant others on Valentine's Day removes any _romantic_ nuances the day might hold for those who celebrate it."

"Oh?" Paige smirked. "So…, even though _you_ don't believe in love, you recognize the fact that _other_ people 'buy' into it. Am I right?"

"In a sense." Walter quickly gazed at Paige and then returned to looking at the road. "You're going somewhere with this, aren't you."

"Let's say…, hypothetically…, you were one of those people who _buys_ into to the notion of love." Paige paused as Walter pulled into the alley next to the garage. He put the car in park but remained seated in the vehicle.

"Not possible, but okay. Go on." Walter said, interested to where Paige's statement was heading towards.

"Enlighten me," Paige smirked as she took off her seatbelt and turned to face him. He gulped, fearing for what she would say next. "If Walter O'Brien actually believed in _some_ aspect of romantic love, then what would _you_ do if you wanted to show a special someone how important she is to you?"

"Is this some sort of test?"

"A social experiment." Paige deadpanned.

"Okay," Walter nodded, "I'll give it a go." He turned off the car and then caught Paige's gaze as he turned to face her. "First of all, you can forget about Valentine's Day. There's no sense in supporting commodity when," he looked a way for a split second and then found her eyes again, "uh, when I would want, uh, to, um, to show a, um, a certain someone that she's, uh, that she's more, um, more important to me than," he scratched his nose, "than, well, you know, than everything else."

"Seems logical." Paige mused as she approved of Walter's answer.

"If I _did_ believe in some notion of love, which I don't, but if I did," he continued, unsure of where he was going with his statement, "that particular moment of, well, of confession, um, would be planned on, well, on my part, but would seem perfectly spontaneous to, um, well, you know, to that said special woman."

Paige took off her seatbelt and inched closer to him. "And what if the woman of your dreams decides to act first?"

He scooted back as she climbed over the console. "Um," Walter swallowed as she sat on top of his lap and hooked her arms around his neck. "Um…," she drew closer, "That scenario would, um," he could feel her warm breath brushing against his chin. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "That would be..." His voice cracked as her palms cupped his cheeks. "that would be acceptable."

Just when he thought she was going to kiss him, she pulled away, laughed and lightly smacked his cheek. "Not bad." Paige climbed back to her side of the vehicle, hopped out of the car and made her way inside the garage, leaving a blinking Walter sitting in the driver's seat as he tried to process what had just happened. His eyes widened when he replayed everything inside his mind, and for the first time since the flirting lesson, he was starting to see that Paige Dineen had a greater effect on his wellbeing than he had originally thought.

He was beginning to think his opinion on romantic affection was flawed, and if that was the case, he was in big trouble.

One of these days, Paige Dineen was going to be the death of him.

**~ SCORPION ~**

A few hours later, the garage's decorations had been completed, and everyone had eventually separated into doing their own projects. Everything was going pretty smoothly, and the day seemed rather slow for the team; it was only a matter of time before Cabe barged into the garage with another case at hand.

As Walter finished decoding an encryption on his computer, Paige came up to him with a clipboard in hand. "So," she smiled, "I'm gathering everyone's opinion on what kinds of h'ordeuvres you guys want for Saturday. I'm going shopping on Friday to gather ingredients and last minute things for the party. Anyway, do you have a preference?"

Walter looked up from his computer and forced a smile. "Not really."

"Okay…," she jotted something down and then asked, "What about Megan?"

"Pizza rolls and those Deli Swirls have always been her favorite." Walter replied as he leaned back into his chair and folded his arms in front of him.

"Okay," Paige laughed and wrote his response down and then slid her clipboard underneath her arm. He half expected her to return to her desk, but she didn't move. She looked as though she had wanted to say something, but as she opened her mouth to speak, the door to the garage slammed open. Everyone looked towards the entrance and watched Cabe stride to the center of the garage, calling everyone forth.

"Got a special case for you guys!" Cabe exclaimed as everyone made their way to the center table.

"Oooh!" Toby clapped. "Let me guess! CIA wants us t—"

"No." Cabe shook his head.

"NSA w—"

"Wrong again."

"LAX planes are going down," Toby answered quickly before Cabe could cut him off.

"We already solved that one." Happy muttered loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"Shush!" Toby spoke through his teeth. "Well, perhaps Cabe wouldn't remember… and don't ruin my moment, Happy!"

"You _killed_ the moment when you started talking." Happy rolled her eyes.

"Ladies," Cabe frowned, "if you are done talking, I'd like to get down to business."

Toby was about to say something snippy, but Cabe, Walter and Happy shot glares in his direction. "Proceed."

"Homeland received some Intel an hour ago, detailing that a bunch of dangerous rockets were stolen from American soil. Unfortunately, neither Homeland, FBI, NSA, CIA nor NCIS have any idea who's responsible for stealing them." Cabe frowned. "However, in the event that these rockets were to be stolen, they were installed with some sort of tracking system."

"Then why can't Homeland or anybody else, for that matter, track and locate them?" Walter asked as he glanced at the casefile.

"They have." Cabe said gravely, "The tracking system is only activated if the rockets are activated as well. Whoever was responsible for stealing these rockets was smart enough to bug the system, making it virtually impossible for the control center to shut them down automatically. Homeland needs Scorpion to find these rockets and manually disable them before the person responsible decides to launch them."

"And where are these rockets now?" Happy inquired as she leaned over the table, planting her fists against the wood.

"Somewhere on a cruise ship getting ready to depart from San Diego in two hours. We don't have enough Intel on the person or the group responsible for this heist, so we can't risk innocent lives by trying to storm down there right now when we don't even know where these rockets are hidden nor how to shut them off. As long as we recover and disable those rockets before touching Mexican soil, we'll be in good shape."

"Easier said than done," Paige mumbled.

"So we're going undercover?" Toby grinned. "I like going undercover. Maybe I'll even get to have a gorgeous woman shove her tongue down _my_ throat too!"

The glares Paige sent Toby did not go unnoticed by Walter.

"Not we, Doc." Cabe replied. "You, Happy and Sylvester will stay here."

"What?" Toby and Happy balked. "Why?!"

"Well, first of all, we can't have Sylvester puking on the job." Cabe looked at Sylvester and then patted the human calculator on the back.

"It's true. I'd be a mess on a cruise." Sylvester sighed.

"And the two of you," Cabe pointed to Happy and Toby, "would just cause attention to the covert operation. It is more important that we disable these rockets above anything else; if we happen to capture the culprit or culprits behind the operation, then all the more power to us, but the last thing we want is to start a war. The captain of the ship has already been informed of the situation at hand; we don't want to cause any panic for the tourists. The captain has agreed to send Homeland a list of all of the tourists; I'll need _you_ , Toby, to psychoanalyze them and perform background checks from the garage." He looked at Happy, "You're the toughest on the team, Happy; you need to stay here with Toby and Sylvester and make sure the culprit didn't leave any friends behind."

"Copy that," Happy nodded.

"Really?" Toby raised an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"I hate cruises and most people." Happy shrugged. "Doesn't bother me one bit that I have to stay here."

Cabe then looked at Walter and Paige. "Here," he handed both of them fake identification cards and packets of material. "The two of you will be posing as newlyweds on this trip. I'll be undercover as a man on a retirement trip. CIA will be lending a few trained agents as backup."

"I'm sorry," Toby snapped his head in Cabe's direction. "Did you just say _newlyweds_?" Toby looked at Walter and at Paige; Paige's faint blush did not go unnoticed by the shrink. Walter was as placid as ever. "Sure, Paige, I can believe, but you _do_ remember that flirting fiasco several weeks ago, right?" Toby pointed to Walter. "I'm not sure you've thought this one through, Cabe."

"Don't worry about it, Doc." Happy said before Cabe could answer. "Most newlyweds are nervous as hell to be together."

"Pah!" Toby laughed. "Nervous my ass! Newlyweds like to cling all over each other. Lots of kisses, touching, tongues, the whole shebang!"

Walter gulped.

Cabe turned to look at Walter and Paige. He winked at them. "If I recall," Cabe then looked at Toby, "Walt is a pretty damn good actor when it comes to faking his emotions. I'm sure he's got this one. Plus, he's got a good coach, too." Cabe smirked and patted both Walter's and Paige's shoulders. "The two of you will be okay with this assignment right?"

Before Paige had a chance to answer, Walter immediately exclaimed, "Yes!"

Toby smirked and high-fived Happy; their secret plan to make Walter squirm definitely worked.

Paige glanced at Walter and then at Cabe. "Shouldn't be too hard. I just need someone to keep an eye on Ralph while I'm gone."

"Oooh! I can do it!" Sylvester volunteered. "He gets off from school around four, right?"

"Three-thirty." Paige sighed.

"Don't worry," Happy grinned, "We'll make sure he arrives here in one piece."

"As long as Toby drives," Sylvester stammered. "No offence Happy, but with your mad driving skills, there's a forty-four percent chance that an accident will occur."

Cabe sighed. "Quiet, you three. You're going to give Paige a heart attack." He turned to Paige and patted her shoulder. "I'll have an agent pick him up and bring him here. That agent will also supervise the kids," he looked towards Toby, Happy and Sylvester, "while the three of us are gone too."

"Okay," Paige nodded. "That makes me feel a little bit better." She briskly walked over to her desk and picked up her purse. "I've gotta stop by Ralph's school and explain things to him on my way home to pack. Tell your agent to pick Ralph up by corner of the school next to the flagpole."

"Noted," Cabe said as he pulled out his phone. "Oh, do you have a security word or a phrase?"

Paige nodded. Ever since the video game fiasco, Walter had suggested for Ralph to have some sort of password so that no one could ever take advantage of him again. "Scoop."

"Sounds good." Cabe smirked. "Walter and I will pick you up from your apartment in an hour. Homeland has a private plane on the ready when we get to HQ to take us to San Diego. Once we board the cruise, I suggest the two of you," Cabe glanced at Walter and then looked at Paige, "establish a believable background story – people are going to ask you where the two of you met, how Walter – or, rather, Eugene Wilson – proposed. Those sorts of things."

"Got it." Paige waved and then disappeared from the garage.

Without a word, Walter made his way to his room and started packing.

It was certainly going to be an interesting week.

**~ SCORPION ~**

As promised, Walter and Cabe arrived at Paige's apartment and helped load her luggage into the squad car, cramming it next to Walter's belongings. Cabe had his things already packed and waiting for him at HQ. Once they were in the private plane, Walter asked, "So how long is this cruise trip anyway?"

"Well," Cabe said as he took off his sunglasses and cleaned them, "The cruise itself lasts for a full week; the job will need to be completed before we get onto Mexican soil. The first checkpoint is Cabo San Lucas; that gives us two days to disable those rockets. There will be a private jet waiting to take us home in Cabo San Lucas."

"And if the job isn't completed within that timeframe?" Walter inquired as the plane took off.

"You better hope to God that that doesn't happen." Cabe replied in a warning tone.

"I don't believe in God." Walter deadpanned.

"You know what I mean." Cabe said as he slid his sunglasses back over his nose. Cabe turned to Paige. "You're quieter than usual. Something on your mind?"

Paige shrugged. "I just think it's kind of funny how new experiences seem to keep landing in my lap, and I don't even get to enjoy them."

"You should count your blessings," Cabe laughed, "Not everyone gets to travel on a cruise – even for a short amount of time – for free. You enjoy your work, right?"

"Most times," Paige nodded. Walter knew it was sometimes hard for Paige to work with a bunch of geniuses, but she did her best to pull her own weight on the team. Walter couldn't ask for anything more; she did her job well, and she was very efficient – even when she had to stay late and work on the paperwork for their cases.

"Well, there ya go." Cabe smirked and then turned around to face the front of the plane. "Oh, and the two of you better put on your wedding bands and make things look official before we land."

"Right. Okay." Walter said as he dug through his packet that Cabe had given him at the garage and pulled out a small bag with a single gold band inside of it. Paige did the same thing; except, her ring was a beautiful, golden band with a simple, but exquisite diamond stone sitting on top of it.

"Who knew Homeland had such good taste?" Paige muttered as she marveled at the ring which was now sitting on her left ring finger. "Is there a chance I could keep this ring after the case is done?"

"Nope. Sorry. All props are to be returned to Homeland after the case is over." Cabe laughed.

"Darn." Paige sighed. "It was worth a try."

"Why do you care?" Walter lifted his eyebrow. "It's just a ring."

"If we're going to be newlyweds, Walter, you need to sound a little more invested into the fake relationship in order to convince other people that we're married. That being said, you can't be bashing symbolisms of love just because you, personally, don't believe in it. I know that the rings _we're_ wearing don't have any significance behind them since it's all pretend, but wedding rings _do_ have value, Walter."

"Did your _first_ wedding ring hold any value to you after Drew left?" Walter asked but immediately regretted the words flying out of his mouth. Cabe hissed and slapped his head and cringed as if he was waiting for something big to happen.

Paige frowned. "I know you don't have any tact, Walter, so I'm going to assume you weren't trying to be offensive." She folded her arms in front of her and looked out the window. "Sometimes," she spoke without looking at him, "Sometimes we have to make all of the wrong choices first before we ever find the right ones."

And that was all she would say on the matter.

He didn't encourage the conversation any further.

The rest of the plane ride was awkward and silent, and once they landed, a car picked them up and escorted them to the docks where the Legacy Cruise was awaiting their arrival.

While Cabe didn't seem intimidated by the ship, Walter and Paige were both slightly overwhelmed. Paige made a comment – more towards Cabe than to Walter – about the size, noting that this undercover operation was too good to be true. Walter assumed she was talking about the cruise itself and not about the actual operation.

Walter, on the other hand, was more intrigued with the fact that the Legacy Cruise was a state-of-the-art cruise ship with the type of high-tech equipment he would love to get his hands on.

"Well don't just stand there and drool, people," Cabe called over to Walter and Paige. "Come on!"

They hustled up to Cabe and as the agent stepped onto the ramp, he turned around and said, "From this point on, you two need to suck up your damn prides and act like you're on your honeymoon. So…, hold hands or something and look like you love each other."

As the man turned around, Paige followed orders and laced her fingers with Walter's. Then she muttered, "Just so you know, you're not off the hook from earlier." They followed Cabe up the ramp, and she smiled to keep up appearances. "Not by a longshot."

Walter gulped, wondering what she could have meant. "Okay."

He would never admit it out loud, but there were times Happy had concerned him with her violent tendencies; like him, though, Happy had a short fuse. It was easier to tick her off; Walter had always known when Happy would explode with anger because it was always expected and mostly, a daily routine for her. Never in his life, before Paige, had he ever encountered a woman with a strong level of tolerance for his tactlessness and Toby's wisecracking jokes.

Since Walter was experienced with holding in his anger until the last second, he knew it wasn't the best tactical approach to releasing his anger, but it was the only outlet of emotion he was comfortable with. He had heard that a woman's scorn was not something to mess with; Happy was proof of that. While he had seen Paige disappointed with him in the past, he's never seen her lose her temper in violent fits of rage – not like Happy.

But if Walter ever had a choice between disabling a hundred dangerous rockets and stopping hundreds of US missiles from striking foreign soil as opposed to trying to figure Paige Dineen out, he would definitely choose the rockets and the missiles. Not to discredit Paige's impressive personality, but based on Walter's observations, unintentionally saying inappropriate and tactless things to her was the equivalent scenario to walking across a mine field. So far, it would seem as though she had been taking every offensive and insensitive thing he had ever said to her with a grain of salt, but he was beginning to wonder how many more mines he would have to step on before she'd blow up.

When they entered the cruise ship, he and Paige were immediately directed to their suite, separating them from Cabe, whose lodgings were on a different level than theirs. Walter used the key he was given by one of the concierges and pushed open the door. He started to walk in, but Paige wouldn't budge. He turned around, wondering why she wasn't moving.

"We're _newlyweds_ on our honeymoon, remember?"

"Yeah. And?"

Paige slapped her head. "This is where you carry your _wife_ over the threshold. You don't want to curse this marriage, do you?"

"We're not really married, _Claire_." Walter forced a smile as he said her fake name.

"Just do it," Paige harshly whispered, sending him a threatening glare. He could tell he was already testing her patience. He sighed, walked back over to her and then scooped her up into his arms as she hooked her hands around his neck. An elderly woman from down the hall smiled at the two as Walter carried Paige inside their suite. He kicked the door shut but still held Paige close to him as he slowly walked into the room. He felt her slow breaths brushing against his neck; he wondered if she realized she was twisting her fingers within his hair. Even though his legs carried him over to the king-sized bed, he didn't want to lose the warmth shared between them; it was almost as if the last hour of bickering and tension between them was forgotten.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. As a reflex, Walter quickly dropped Paige onto the bed and then raced to the door, shoving the last few minutes he had shared with Paige into his little mental box for future analysis. When he saw that their visitor was Cabe, he opened the door, completely recovered from his little emotional overload he had experienced with Paige. As Cabe walked in, Paige was sitting on the bed, combing her fingers though her hair.

"I just came in to tell you that I'm going to go and talk with the captain. The two of you stay in here and get your story straight before mingling. Also, as a reminder, while you're here, everything's on your dime; Homeland will reimburse you later for your expenses."

Cabe scanned the room and then turned to Walter. "You carried her over the threshold, right?"

"She forced me to." Walter replied, hearing Paige chuckle in the background.

"Atta girl," Cabe winked at Paige and then turned for the door. "Spend about an hour and get your stories straight." Cabe looked at his watch, "I'll stop by around one; the two of you better not be here. Since you're posing as newlyweds, you'll be expected to cling to each other and go to everything together. Your honeymoon vibes will give the two of you the perfect reason to go sneaking off into uncharted areas and look for the rockets."

"And why's that?" Walter asked, unsure of what Cabe was implying.

Cabe looked at Paige and sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll prep him." Paige smiled as she casually placed her palm on Walter's shoulder. "Give me one hour, and he won't be the Walter O'Brien you know, Cabe."

"We'll see about that." Cabe chuckled and then headed for the door. "Good luck, Paige. I leave Walter in your hands."

Once Cabe was gone, Paige made her way over to the bed as Walter finally saw that their luggage had already been delivered to their suite. "So," Paige clapped her hands and smirked. "Which side will it be, Walter?"

"Hm?" Walter found her gaze.

"Which side of the bed do you want to sleep on? Left or right?" Paige asked as she pointed to the _only_ bed in the suite.

"C-Come again?"

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

BAHAHAHAHA! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! X) I don't know why, but I love putting Walter into situations that make him squirm. :P Especially around Paige. (That's why I loved "Charades" so much! Seeing Walter so uncomfortable around Paige was like a dream come true, and I hope they actually do have more moments like that! It would definitely be interesting to see how comfortable Walter eventually grows around Paige's touch – especially if they're going to be showing more levels of affection towards one another).

By the way, I would like to remind you that I have no idea what will be happening in the sixteenth episode on Feb. 9 except from what was said in the synopsis. So, I don't know if Toby, Happy and Sly stay behind or if Walt and Paige pose as newlyweds. It's just my theory based on the synopsis that was given out in the press release on Spoiler TV.

While I plan on finishing this puppy up by Feb. 9, it might be a little more than five chapters. 10 max. If I have to, I might pause on _Mind Games_ when the time draws near and finish this story up before my desired deadline. _Mind Games_ doesn't have a deadline so don't be surprise if I make a note that I might be giving _Mind Games_ a short hiatus. :P

Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

 


	3. Chapter 3

**WriterFreak001:**

I have decided to work on and finish this FanFiction before resuming "Mind Games."

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated M as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**Once Cabe was gone, Paige made her way over to the bed as Walter finally saw that their luggage had already been delivered to their suite. "So," Paige clapped her hands and smirked. "Which side will it be, Walter?"**

**"Hm?" Walter found her gaze.**

**"Which side of the bed do you want to sleep on? Left or right?" Paige asked as she pointed to the _only_ bed in the suite.**

**"C-Come again?"**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

****

**Chapter 3**

**~ SCORPION ~**

"You heard me." Paige laughed. "Don't worry; I don't bite. Unless," her eyes shifted over to the couch, "you'd feel more comfortable sleeping on the sofa instead of the bed."

"That's an," Walter scratched the back of his head, "accurate assumption."

He walked over to his luggage and then wheeled his bags towards the couch. Even though he had a feeling inside his gut wanting nothing more than to share the bed with Paige, his mind reminded him that it would be highly inappropriate to take part in such a desire with a coworker. Once they were settled, Paige coerced him to sit on the bed and sat next to him. "So," she spoke softly, "have you given our back-story some thought?"

"No." Walter answered candidly. "Those are the kinds of things I hired you for."

"Okay," Paige nodded and hummed lightly. "Hm. Well, your name is Eugene Wilson on this case so based on your name, I'd say you're a tech analyst."

"But that's what I am. This is supposed to be an undercover operation." Walter raised an eyebrow as Paige turned to look at him.

"Well, sometimes the best lies are partial truths." Paige smiled. "Trust me, we have to think smart about this operation; so…work with what you know. You already know all of the jargon that comes with the profession so no one would question your fake – but actually real – job."

"Seems logical." Walter nodded. "What about you?"

"How about a teacher for gifted students?" Paige shrugged. "It's kind of already what I do minus the fact that four of my so-called students are over the age of twenty." Paige stood up and walked around in circles. Walter approached the couch and opened up his manila envelope to pull out the thick, rectangular glasses he was supposed to wear. He slipped them on over his face, and when he turned around, Paige let out a sudden, melodic laugh. "That's a perfect disguise for you." He shrugged as a response and scratched the back of his head before returning to the bed. He watched as Paige walked over to her own envelope and pull out thin-framed glasses herself. She pushed them up her nose, and Walter kept his comments to himself. "There," she caught his gaze, "A match made in heaven."

"Hm?"

"Our aliases." Paige laughed and then said, "Eugene Wilson and Claire Ellis met five years ago in New York City. Eugene was briskly walking to work with his briefcase in one hand and his umbrella in the other. Claire was also running late, and the taxi was caught in traffic. She collected her things and made a run for it. Both were too focused on getting to work on time that they didn't realize they were heading straight for each other. Next thing they know, both of them rammed into each other and fell to the ground. And that is how Eugene and Claire met."

"Sounds believable. When I worked as a tech analyst for a bank a few years back, I was constantly running late – especially since my car was always breaking down." Walter assessed as he fidgeted with the ring on his finger; it felt weird to wear when he knew that the _marriage_ between him and Paige was nothing but a ruse to locate those rockets. "Cabe, um, Cabe had mentioned something about, well," he ran his hand through his hair and felt his ears heating up, "about us establishing a proposal story."

"He did," Paige nodded and laughed. "I've given that some thought too." She sat back down on the bed and looked towards the small window overlooking the ocean. "We were out stargazing at a local observatory. You gave me a set of coordinates you wanted me to locate…some ring galaxy."

"If that's the case, then I would direct you to Hoag's Object – a ring galaxy in the sky with a right ascension of 15 hours, 17 minutes and 14.4 seconds and a declination of 21 degrees, 35 minutes and 8 seconds." Walter cut in, causing Paige to giggle. "Is something funny?"

"No," she shook her head, "It's just interesting to see how invested you are to this fake proposal story."

"Facts are important to me." Walter replied.

"I know." Paige lightly touched his arm. "I know facts are important to you, Walter." She squeezed his arm and then let her palm fall to her lap; the ghostly feeling of her pinkie lightly touching the back of his hand did not go unnoticed, and he didn't do anything to stop it. Her skin was soft, and he secretly liked it when she casually or unknowingly touched him. As she continued, her soft voice brought him out of his reverie, and he gave her his undivided attention. "As I was saying, you want me to locate Hoag's Object in the sky. It took me a while, but I eventually found it."

"I can tell you're going to tie-in Hoag's Object with the symbolism of the ring." Walter said, causing Paige to meet his gaze. "It's your only logical move."

"And once I've found it," Paige continued, "You give me a long spiel about your undying feelings and th—" Paige stopped as Walter started laughing. "What?"

"First of all," he rose to his feet, "I am a tech analyst. There would be no long spiels about any undying feelings my alias would have for yours."

"Oh?" Paige rose her eyebrow. "Then tell me, Walter, how would _you_ propose to my alias?"

Walter stood silent for a moment and thought things over. "Okay," he accepted Paige's challenge, "you want to know what I would do?"

"Fire away." Paige urged him to continue as she folded her arms in front of her.

"I wouldn't take you to an observatory – too many people around. I'd take you to an area in the desert where it's isolated from the rest of the world and far enough away from light pollution. I'd take you somewhere you'd be able to see as many objects in the sky as optically possible. No telescopes needed. Telescopes might be useful if you're studying a star or a planet or some other object in the sky, but they also impair what you'd be able to see with the naked eye. They'd narrow your vision, making it virtually impossible to see as many objects at once."

"Then what would you do?" she stood up and approached him slowly.

"I'd, um, well I'd, um, I would tell you that," he scratched his nose, "th-that th-the st-stars you see in th-the…i-in the night," he closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat, "in the night sky is only five percent of the observable universe."

"Go on." Paige encouraged him as she drew closer. He took a few steps backwards. His ears were still burning.

"T-then I would, um, I would t-t-tell you that, um, th-the five percent that you see i-is infin-infinites-," he paused when his back hit the wall, "infinitesimal c-compared t-to my, uh, erm, my alias's f-feelings and, um, and desire f-for…f-for yours." He gulped and muttered quickly, "and then I would," he forced a laugh, "then I would propose."

Paige was only inches away from him when she hooked her arms around his neck. "And the engagement ring?"

"I wouldn't have one," he forced another laugh.

"Oh? And why is that?" her voice was shallow, and her proximity was making it very hard for him to concentrate, much less breathe naturally.

"Rings are, um," his voice cracked, "rings are t-tangible objects. Th-the fact th-that my a-alias b-believes in," the hairs on his neck stood up, "b-believes in th-the n-notion of…of love, h-he'd want to, um, want to use something constant a-and in-intrinsic t-to r-represent his, um, his feelings, f-for Claire. Th-thus, h-he took her to, um, to the desert – s0 sh-she could, um, so she could s-s-see a sm-small f-fraction," shivers crawled down his spine as Paige's fingers massaged his head behind his ears, "f-fraction of what…of what h-he w-w-was willing," he licked his lips and swallowed the lump in his throat, "t-to offer her."

"Ah," Paige muttered as her lips found his ear. "Oh, and Walter?"

"Hm?"

"You're so adorable when you squirm." Paige laughed as she retracted herself from him and lightly smacked his cheek like she had done earlier in the day. As she retreated back towards the bed, she pulled her hair up and added, "I mean, who knew a guy with practically no EQ had some level of romance inside of him?"

"I, um, I watch a lot of movies." Walter lied, not wanting to admit to the fact that he had a lot more EQ than he gave himself credit for.

"I'm sure you do," Paige smirked. "Anyway, consider _that_ little experiment a warm-up."

"A w-warm-up?" Walter gulped as his eyes widened in shock from Paige's statement. The level of proximity they had just undergone was torturous enough; now, there was going to be more?

"We have forty-five minutes left, Walter," Paige replied as she looked at her phone. "Before we go out to mingle with other tourists, I need to make you comfortable enough to hold and kiss your newlywed _wife_ in public."

"Y-you d-do?" Walter felt like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. This woman was clearly oblivious to the power she held over him, and Walter was beginning to believe that this cruise was going to be the death of him.

"Cabe's orders." Paige nodded. "Now," she walked up to him and took hold of his hand, "the best way to get over your tactile fears is to experience the most uncomfortable situation first…, since," she caught his gaze as she guided him to the center of the suite, "we'd have to…," she looked away for a second and then found his eyes again, "do more than just hold hands out in public."

Walter started to freeze up, "You know I don't handle contact very well."

"I know, which is why we need you to get over your jitters before we leave this room." Paige said before releasing his fingers and taking a few steps back from him. "Believe me, it'll be awkward for me too, but for the sake of the case, we need to look and act like real newlyweds. When we return here, you can crawl back into your mental shelter if you're that uncomfortable with the idea of us faking a marriage."

Walter realized she was right; for the case, it was important to maintain their undercover image. He realized that faking their marriage was the most efficient way for them to receive a last second suite; it only made sense to uphold the status quo. "Okay." Walter bit his lower lip. "What will we have to do?"

"Well," Paige pushed her fake glasses back up her nose and then turned around. "Pretend I'm talking with a group of people, and you're on your way back from the restroom. As you approach me, what do you think you need to do?" Walter stood still in his tracks. He didn't trust himself to move. "Walter? It's okay. I'm not a stranger so do whatever you think is correct."

Walter willed himself to slowly approach her from behind and then placed his palms on her shoulders. "This is what I'd do." Walter replied. Technically, cupping Paige's shoulders was the only thing he felt remotely comfortable of doing. That, and the fact that it wasn't too inappropriate.

Paige laughed. "We're a newlywed couple, Walter. You'll need to act like a man who doesn't want his wife to disappear."

"It's impossible for anybody to physically disappear." Walter gulped. Stating facts usually helped him process uncomfortable situations.

"That's not what I mean." Paige spoke softly as her hands found his and guided his palms down to her abdomen, just under her chest. She then told him to rest his chin against the crook of her neck as well as tighten his arms around her. She rested her arms against his and leaned into his embrace. "Yes," her voice was soothing to Walter's ears, "Just like that."

And then the moment shared between them ended when the cruise ship blew its whistle, signaling everyone that it was ready to take off.

Walter was the first to pull away. He walked over to the couch and scratched his ear, unsure what to do next.

"I think you'll be okay out there," Paige said as she walked over to her luggage and dug through her clothes. He watched her pull out a two-piece swimsuit. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to change into something more appropriate for a cruise."

"A swimsuit is highly inappropriate for the job." Walter stated quickly, reminding her of their real reason for attending this cruise.

"Yes, but we're trying to blend in, remember?" Paige smirked and laughed. "Don't worry; this won't be all I'm wearing. I have some dignity, you know." She placed her swimsuit into the bathroom and then she walked back to her suitcase to take out a pair of jean shorts and a thin, white button-up shirt. "I'll be right back. I suggest you change too."

When she disappeared into the bathroom, Walter walked over to his suitcase and unzipped it. If it wasn't for Toby's advice on what to bring on a cruise ship, Walter would have only brought variants of his usual attire. He was lucky enough to even own swimming trunks – something he had purchased for a reason he cared not to dwell on. Once he had changed into his swimming trunks, he slipped on a plain white shirt and then slipped his arms into a white button-up shirt but left the buttons unattached. He felt awkward and overexposed – especially with the sandals he was going to have to wear.

He heard the bathroom door open, and as he turned around, he did not expect the sight before him. While Paige was decently covered as she promised she would be, he certainly wasn't expecting the tightly-fitted clothes she was wearing over her bright red swimsuit. Not only was her figure embellished with what she was wearing, but he could see her bikini top through her white shirt.

He needed a distraction. _Any_ distraction. The best he could do was talk about the case in order to keep his mind from exploring uncharted territories within his psyche. "So…. This is what I figure we should do," Walter cleared his throat as Paige bent down to pick up her purse. "Since the culprit wouldn't place the rockets somewhere guests could easily walk into, they're probably stashed in either the cargo-hold or in the employee's only areas if the culprit works on the cruise. I figure we search the cargo-hold first. If we can't find them, then we check other restricted areas. If we manage to find them today, we will return tonight and sneak in; I can't lug my materials around during the day; even _I_ know it would be too conspicuous."

"We have to mingle too, Walter." Paige reminded him. "We need to keep up our appearances so I suggest we mingle and get a scope of the cruise first; we can't just walk in somewhere blindly and hope we find the stairs and not someone's private bedroom."

"Good idea," Walter said as he zipped up his bag. "I say we spend an hour, at most, getting familiar with where everything is. Then the real part of our case begins. We'll need to call Cabe first, however."

"Why's that?" Paige asked as she walked up to him.

"Well, if we have to venture off into restricted areas, we're going to need keys to open the doors. We can't risk having the captain see our faces; Cabe is the only operative Homeland will allow the captain to see. That being said, Cabe can get us what we need." Walter replied as Paige interlocked her fingers with his.

"You ready?" Paige asked as they approached the door.

"No," Walter shook his head as they exited their suite and locked the door. "But I don't really have a choice."

"Don't worry about it," Paige squeezed his hand. "It'll be easy."

"I doubt it."

**~ SCORPION ~**

For the next hour, Walter and Paige collected a set of keys for the restricted rooms of the cruise, ventured off into the food court and ate some lunch as they mingled with other people. As Paige had expected, some elderly folks asked them about their 'stories,' and Walter didn't understand why anybody even cared about how _Eugene_ and _Claire_ met or how _Eugene_ proposed. The curiosity of normals was almost too overwhelming, and if Walter had to tell someone how his alias had proposed to his _wife_ , he was going to go crazy. Enduring Paige's public display of affection was hard enough without freezing up every time she touched his arm or kissed his cheek. A few times, in front of different people, she had him hold her like he had practiced in the suite. In many ways, he felt exploited; he had quickly learned that people enjoyed newlyweds giving them a show or telling them stories. He didn't know what it bugged him so much seeing as he was not really married to Paige and that everything they were doing was nothing but a ruse to trick people into thinking they were nothing but newlyweds on their honeymoon, but he couldn't deny the fact that his lack of privacy with Paige bothered him.

"We need to do what we came here to do," Walter muttered into Paige's ear from behind her.

She discreetly nodded, approving of Walter's statement, and then smiled at the elderly couple and said, "It's been lovely meeting and talking to you, but we should really get going. So little time, so much to do, you know?"

The elderly couple smiled, waved and then slowly walked away from Walter and Paige. "We need to get to the elevator," Paige whispered, "I saw one this way," she added as she pulled him towards the center of the cruise. They spotted Cabe slightly leaning over one of the cruise's railings, supposedly admiring the view of the ocean. He was no doubt keeping an eye on them, though. "The elevator is next to the bathrooms."

When they located it, they slipped inside before Walter pressed the button to the main level. "We will need to take it to the lowest available level; the elevator won't go all the way down to the cargo hold. We'll have to take the stairs to get there."

"Okay," Paige nodded as the elevator descended. To their luck, no one stopped the elevator along the way to the main level. They stepped onto the main floor and casually made their way to a stairwell labeled for employees only. They quickly walked down the stairs, passing a few flights along the way, and then ended up in the cargo hold where hundreds of property were being stored. "This is going to take forever."

"Better get started now," Walter replied. They spent thirty minutes looking through cases and baskets and cars and practically anything they could search within the cargo hold but couldn't find anything. "I don't think they're here." Walter frowned.

"How are we supposed to find them before the deadline?" Paige asked, throwing up her hands out of frustration. "It's not like we can ask Siri where they're located!"

Walter smacked his head. "I'm an idiot!"

"What is it now?"

"The reason the rockets' control center couldn't accurately pinpoint them is because the center isn't close enough to this cruise to receive a precise location. It's like losing your phone inside a building; you won't be able to identify the exact place you lost your phone, but you'd be able to find out the approximate location based on where the signal is coming from." Walter suddenly got excited.

"How does that help us, Walter?"

"Because I have a program on my computer that allows me to scan in the blueprints of this cruise ship, read off the router signals of the rockets and give me a more definite location than what the government's technology could ever do." Walter exclaimed as he explained himself to Paige. "We need to get back to the suite. I can obtain the blueprints of the ship by hacking into company that built the Legacy; if they're as modern as this ship is, they'll have a digital backup of the scans."

"Okay, then. Let's go." Paige smiled.

Then they heard a few footsteps making their way down the steps to the cargo hold and fast. "Come on," Walter pulled Paige behind a tall vehicle. "We need to find another way out of here."

"That's the only way out, Walter!" Paige snapped harshly.

"Can't be. In case the ship was jeopardized like Titanic, they'd have at least one more alternative exit. If the stairs were ever damaged, they would need to leave the cargo hold a different way." Walter whispered as they ducked behind the car.

"There's no time to look for another way out!" Paige reprimanded as they looked towards the stairway where the stomps were getting exponentially louder.

"Have any better ideas?" Walter challenged her.

"One, but you might not like it." Paige muttered.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." Paige nodded.

Before Walter could respond, a loud voice called out towards them. "Alright?! Who's down here?!"

"If you have a plan, Paige, mind telling me what it is?" Walter mumbled through his teeth as they crouched down lower.

"I can hear you! This room is for employees only! Don't make me call security!"

"Pucker up," Paige said quickly, and before Walter could respond, she threw herself against him, knocked him onto the ground next to the vehicle and kissed him hard on the mouth.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! I bet you didn't see _THAT_ coming! XD I know my Waige fantasy in this story will not happen in the episode, but that doesn't mean it can't happen in here! :D Yeah this story is DEFINITELY going to be more than five chapters. More like ten since I still have to include the stuff that also occurs at the garage with Toby, Happy, Sly and Ralph.

The next chapter might not be here til Sunday because tomorrow is my grandmother's 88th birthday, and we are going out to celebrate it. As noted in my other FFN, "Mind Games," I am going to finish this story first before resuming that one. I have a strong idea where I want Mind Games to go so it's not in jeopardy of dying out anytime soon. :D

Anyway, let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**WriterFreak001:**

Just you wait and see what I have in store for this story. ;) I'm so glad a lot of readers enjoyed the previous chapter. If you liked that one so much, you'll like the fourth installment even better.

Heh. Heh.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated M as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

" **Have any better ideas?" Walter challenged her.**

" **One, but you might not like it." Paige muttered.**

" **You don't know that."**

" **Yes, I do." Paige nodded.**

**Before Walter could respond, a loud voice called out towards them. "Alright?! Who's down here?!"**

" **If you have a plan, Paige, mind telling me what it is?" Walter mumbled through his teeth as they crouched down lower.**

" **I can hear you! This room is for employees only! Don't make me call security!"**

" **Pucker up," Paige said quickly, and before Walter could respond, she threw herself against him, knocked him onto the ground next to the vehicle and kissed him hard on the mouth.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

****

**Chapter 4**

**~ SCORPION ~**

Walter froze from head to toe the moment Paige's lips pressed hard against his and really didn't know what her ploy was, but it seemed to have worked. As he heard the employees heading in their direction, Paige lost her fingers within his curly hair and gently pushed her tongue into his mouth, sending Walter's hormones on overdrive. He found himself wrapping his arms around her torso and returning her kiss when both of them heard the owner of that booming voice clear his throat from beside them. Paige ripped her lips away from him as they turned to look at the two male employees staring at them.

"This place is off limits." One frowned and folded his arms in front of him as the other worker forced Walter and Paige onto their feet. "How'd you get down here in the first place?"

"The door was open," Walter lied.

"It's okay, honey," Paige gently elbowed Walter in the side, "We can tell them why we're here."

Walter gave her a weird look as one of the employees said, "I'm all ears."

"Well," Paige laughed, "It's actually really funny, you see." She leaned against Walter and laced her fingers with his, "It's our honeymoon, and," she placed her palm against Walter's chest, "my beloved husband," Paige forced a laugh, "Eugene, has a fascination with cruise ships. Hence having the honeymoon on the exquisite Legacy. And since, _Titanic is_ my husband's favorite film, I thought it would be a nice gesture to," she forced another smooth laugh, "you know, do a little bit of _role-play_ ," she winked towards the employees, "as a wedding gift."

Walter wasn't sure what Paige said to make the men very uncomfortable, but they simply cleared their throats, told them to keep their romantic activities inside their suite and escorted them back to the main level of the cruise with only a warning.

When the employees left, Paige muttered, "Come on," and then pulled Walter towards the elevator. They stepped inside once it opened and ascended to their floor. Once they were back inside their suite, Paige cleared her throat and said, "About earlier…," she avoided Walter's gaze, "it was only a ruse so our covers wouldn't be compromised. So…," she bit her lip, "don't think too much into that kiss; it was for the sake of the case. That's it."

"Okay." Walter nodded and then walked towards his luggage to pull out his computer. "But I have to ask," Walter caught Paige's attention as she whirled around to face him. Her eyes lit up, and she took a step towards him. "What did you mean by 'role-play'?"

Paige pressed her lips together and looked away. "You don't want to know."

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." Walter replied quickly. He didn't know why, but her sudden withdrawal intrigued him. After he plugged in his computer and logged in, he approached her with his arms folded against his chest.

"Trust me," Paige mimicked his stance, "You're better off not knowing."

"Fine." Walter frowned and then turned back towards his computer. Paige made her way to the bed and fell against the mattress as she released a heavy sigh. Even though Walter ended the conversation with Paige, it didn't mean he still wasn't curious. To fuel his curiosity, he went onto Google and looked up the definition of 'role-play' for himself. The only definitions he could find seemed harmless, and he didn't understand why Paige would refuse to explain the concept to him. "I don't get it," he muttered to himself and glanced over at Paige who was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He looked back at his laptop, closed out of Google and hacked into the server of the company which built the Legacy. It took a minute, but he managed to find the blueprints for each level of the ship. After he downloaded them to his computer, he uploaded the images onto his tracking program. Since the blueprints were large files and in high definition, it was going to take at least an hour, two at the most, for all of them to upload. He looked at Paige again; she seemed very bored. "The blueprints are being uploaded onto my program; it's going to take at most two hours for the upload to finalize."

"Okay," she replied in a monotonous voice.

"In the meantime," he ran his hand through his hair, "Is there, um," he caught her attention, "Is there something you'd like to do?"

Paige rose to her feet, grabbed her purse and smiled. "As a matter of fact," she walked up to him, took his hand in hers and pulled him towards the door, "there is."

"A-and what would that be exactly?" He asked as they walked out of their suite and closed the door. Walter jiggled the handle to make sure the door was locked and then was lead down the hallway by Paige as she continued to hold his hand.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Paige laughed and held his hand tighter, leaving Walter's mind to wonder what sort of antic Paige Dineen was up to as she towed him towards the elevator.

**~ SCORPION ~**

"Found anything useful yet?" Happy asked Toby as the shrink continued to skim over the names of the tourists Cabe had sent him an hour ago.

Toby frowned. "This cruise has over 8,000 passengers onboard. I've already eliminated all of the families, newlyweds and the elderly passengers from the list, narrowing the number to approximately 5,000 people. It's going to take way more than two freakin' days to sort through all of these names."

"Okay…, well, what about nationalities? Could you eliminate all of the American passengers?" Happy asked as she folded her arms in front of her and hovered over the Toby's shoulder to look at the list.

"No. For all we know, an American could be the culprit – especially if he or she received some sort of good deal from a buyer outside of the states." Toby sighed.

"Well," Happy shrugged, "I'm not the expert here, but stealing American rockets seems like a premeditated plan. It wouldn't be easy to steal them spontaneously; the heist would have been sloppy and the culprit would have made an error. Perhaps you can eliminate all of the passengers who had purchased their tickets at the last minute. If the heist was planned, then the getaway ride was planned too. They probably thought they would have an easier time smuggling rockets in a cruise because there's normally less security when traveling by ship."

Toby's eyes popped open. "Happy, _you_ might be on to something." The shrink started typing away on his computer, eliminating all passengers who had bought their tickets within the last month, narrowing the list to 3,820 people. "Perhaps we should be looking at this from a different angle," Toby mused. "Like you said, this heist had to be premeditated. The culprit was too good to have been a simple walk-in, walk-out kind of thief. He or she managed to avoid all cameras, bypass security and steal the rockets undetected." Toby looked at Sylvester who was reviewing the security footage Cabe had Homeland send over for a thorough analysis. "Sly!" Toby exclaimed, "Call Cabe!"

"Why?" Sylvester paused the footage and turned towards Toby and Happy.

"We need him to have Homeland send us employment information on the command center in charge of those rockets!" Toby explained as he rushed over to Sylvester. Happy followed.

"Why not simply hack in?" Sylvester rose his eyebrow.

"If this heist was an inside job, we can't risk hacking into the mainframe of the command center. The system is bugged; so, for all we know, the culprit could have been a tech wiz and set up the rockets to launch the moment the system is hacked into. In order to do this successfully, we'll need Cabe to have Director Merrick deliver hardcopy files of all of the command center's employees." Happy replied as Toby nodded in response to everything she said.

"Calling Cabe now." Sylvester said, putting the phone on speaker.

" _Ya find anything yet?"_ Cabe's voice rang loud and clear through Sylvester's phone.

"Maybe," Happy replied and then let Toby take the reins of the conversation.

"Cabe, we have reason to believe this heist was an inside job." Toby stated and repeated everything Happy had theorized within the last five minutes. "That being said," he then continued, "We need those hardcopies ASAP. I should mention that all of this needs to be OTR. We can't be too sure how many are in on the operation. The culprit may have a wingman keeping current with the investigation."

" _Copy that."_ Cabe confirmed. _"I'll call Director Merrick and see what can be done. Standby for further instructions."_

"Will do!" Toby exclaimed and then ended the call just as the door to the garage opened and closed. The three geniuses snapped their heads towards the entrance and saw an agent escort Ralph into the building. Sylvester was the first to run up and greet the boy.

"Hi Ralph! So great to see you so soon! Did you have a good day at school?" Sylvester smiled as Ralph took off his backpack and dropped it onto the couch.

"It was okay," Ralph shrugged. "Nothing to brag about."

"Shoulders are slumping," Toby noted as he walked up to the boy. "Did something happen at school today?"

"Do you miss your mom and Walter?" Sylvester asked when the boy wouldn't answer the first question. "Do you want us to call them? We can call them for you."

"He has a cell phone, Sly." Happy said as she walked up to the group. "If he wanted to call them, he would have."

The geniuses kept quiet as the agent meandered about the garage.

"You can leave now. You've done what you came here to do." Happy said towards the agent.

"The name's Agent Todd Mueller. I was ordered to stay put until Agent Gallo returned." The agent replied as he folded his arms in front of him, casually revealing his gun and his badge in the process.

"Fine." Happy frowned. "Just don't get in our way."

"I'll show you to the kitchen," Sylvester offered and walked off towards the kitchen space on the lower level as Agent Mueller followed in tow.

As Toby and Happy sauntered off towards their desks, Ralph slowly made his way towards his mom's computer, oblivious to the two sets of eyes watching his every move. Toby made a personal note to keep a solid eye on the boy; something was up, and it was only a matter of time before the shrink figured out whatever was ailing the boy. And since they were waiting on those files, Toby had nothing better to do than to observe Ralph's behavior and determine why he seemed so down.

Consider it a challenge accepted.

**~ SCORPION ~**

Walter cursed himself for letting Paige coerce him into doing whatever she wanted to do on the cruise while they waited for the uploads to finish. First they stopped by the gift shop where she bought a beach towel, a tube of suntan lotion and a bottle of water. He didn't buy anything. Then, they bumped into a few people they had mingled with earlier in the day and had to pretend to be all lovey-dovey with each other once again. Granted, Walter found Paige's tactile communication easier to endure, but he was not a fan of the PDA they had to maintain. He would much rather hold her in his arms or even kiss her again within the confines of their shared suite (though Paige didn't have to know that) than have another elderly couple smile at them and reminisce the days of their wild honeymoon frenzy.

And when he thought she was ready to return to the suite, she said she wanted to spend some time in one of the cruise's private Jacuzzis. At first, he objected as they walked up to an empty Jacuzzi, telling her she was being overly ridiculous. She merely laughed and told him he was free to go back to the suite if he wanted, but he was adamant about keeping their covers from being blown. She placed her things on top of the Jacuzzi deck, proving to him she was just as tenacious as he was. He froze when she turned away from him, took off her white shirt and tucked it underneath her purse. She opened the suntan lotion and began rubbing it over her arms, shoulders, neck and face. Then she took off her glasses, dropped them into her purse and turned around, catching him watching her every move. She smirked as if she knew what sort of power she held over him. "If you're not going to join me in the Jacuzzi, you could at least make yourself useful and apply suntan lotion to my back." He remained frozen as his eyes met hers. She took his hand and placed the tube of lotion into his palm. "It's just lotion, Wal- _Eugene_."

"O-okay." He gulped. She smiled in response and turned around. The things that woman did to him! For the longest time, he stared at her back as if he had forgotten how to function. She had to remind him of his task once or twice – he lost count – before he finally squirted the creamy gel into his palm. His mind was telling him to rub it in as quickly as possible, but when his palm pressed against her soft skin, his testosterone commandeered his judgment, and he slowly massaged the lotion into her back. As the last of the lotion was smoothed into her skin, he withdrew his palm and placed the lotion back onto the deck. "Done," he said quickly.

"You know," Paige laughed as she unbuckled her shorts and slid them down her legs. Walter willed himself to look away until she slipped into the Jacuzzi and was, to an extent, decently covered by the water. "If Scorpion ever plummets," she continued, "you could always consider being a masseuse. You're not so bad at those deep tissue massages," she winked.

"That's," he forced a laugh, "not funny."

"So," she folded her arms in front of her and leaned back against the wall of the Jacuzzi, "Are you going to willfully join me, or am I going to have to force you to come in here?"

Unbeknownst to Paige, Walter had already kicked off his sandals and contemplated about joining her. There was still, at least, forty-five minutes left until the upload completed, and there was nothing else to do on the cruise. The last thing he wanted was to bump into those elderly couples again, and he had a strong feeling he would if he ventured off by himself. And while the suite _was_ nice, he really couldn't do anything on his computer until the blueprints were finished uploading into his software. If he tried to do anything on his computer while the files were still uploading, he could risk slowing down the process or corrupting it. Instead of willfully joining her inside the Jacuzzi like he should have done in the first place, his rational mind took back the reins and decided to challenge her statement.

"You can't," he forced another laugh, "actually force me to join you – not without pulling me in there or causing bodily harm." The moment those words flew out of his mouth, he bit his tongue. He hadn't actually considered she would be so rash, but Paige, as of lately, had been very unpredictable around him. He doubted the fact that she would harm him in order to force him into the Jacuzzi, but there _was_ a strong possibility she could very well pull him in.

"Oh yeah?" she raised an eyebrow as if she was accepting his challenge. "You want to bet?"

"Not really," he faked a laugh.

Paige smirked. "If I can get you in here without laying a single finger on you in the process, you have to take me to a fancy dinner tonight and save me a dance."

"A-and if you c-can't?" He didn't like where this bet was going.

She shrugged, "I'll buy _you_ dinner and let you use my car for a week when we return to LA." Had she not hit a sore spot and discreetly reminded him his car was currently out of commission, he would have backed down from the bet and surrendered peacefully. But the thought of driving Paige's Chevy for an entire week without permission was a bargain he could not turn down. He had high confidence that he would win so he nodded and agreed to the bet.

He had to laugh to himself when he struck the deal because there was no possible way Paige Dineen could force him into the Jacuzzi without physical contact. He could stand outside the Jacuzzi for the rest of the day and be content with just admiring her physical and geometric aesthetics from afar. It wasn't like she was going t – his smirk fell when he saw her reach up behind her neck and tug on one of the ends of the strings to her bikini top. "Pai – I mean," he shook his head, " _Claire_ , wh-what're y-you d-doing?"

"Don't look so shocked, _Eugene_ ," Paige winked, "we're _married_ , remember?" She let one strap fall. Walter grew very uncomfortable with her sudden forward behavior. She was tantalizing him! And she knew it, too! It was like she _knew_ which strings to pull – no pun intended – in order bend his will. "Five more seconds and the second one falls. Five. Four. Three. Tw –"

"Okay! Okay!" Walter caved as he took out his phone from the pocket in his swimming trunks, placed it next to Paige's things, then pulled off his shirt, dropped it over Paige's purse and scrambled into the Jacuzzi to stop Paige from making a reckless decision.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" Paige laughed.

He blinked. "W-what do you mean?"

"Did you honestly think I would be so stupid as to flash for you?" Paige wiped the tear from her eye and continued laughing. "Watch and learn." Paige smirked as she dropped the other string and un-looped it from her bikini top. "Had you actually took the time to notice my swimsuit, you would have figured out that the neck tie of my bikini top is detachable. Whether I have it on or off, the bikini top stays in place." He blinked again as she tossed the string towards her purse. Then she smacked him in the arm several times, "I can't believe you thought I would do that!"

"In my defense," Walter stammered, "I was, um," he scratched his head as his ears burned from embarrassment, " _trying not_ to, um, to look _b-below_ your f-face."

"Nice save," she rolled her eyes and then smirked. "Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. I won the bet so you owe me dinner and a dance tonight."

Even though Walter didn't say anything, he was beginning to see a whole new side to Paige Dineen, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that, despite the case, they were on a "romantic" (and he used that word lightly) cruise, posing as newlyweds and were away from prying eyes such as Toby, Happy, Sylvester and Ralph. She didn't seem as uptight as she usually was at the garage and was more carefree. It was like she wasn't afraid to exploit his attraction to her and manipulate him in the process (not that he really minded, though).

He had to wonder if this _carefree_ side of Paige Dineen was once a character trait she possessed before meeting Drew and giving birth to Ralph. Surely the stress Drew had caused her over the last seven years had diminished her untroubled spirit, and the fact that she didn't know her son was mentally enabled until several months ago had to have had an impact on her blithe attitude. Perhaps, Walter thought, perhaps, in spite of the case, it was a good thing Paige was able to leave LA for a few days. He would be an idiot to deny the fact that certain parts of the cruise experience were relaxing – especially the Jacuzzi.

He made a personal note to give Paige more time off from her job. If anything, she worked twice as hard as the rest of them. Unlike Walter, Happy, Toby and Sylvester, Paige's mind was not programmed for long periods of unrest. And the fact that she had to tend to Ralph after a day's work was most likely exhausting for her at times. He made another inward note to offer Paige a free night every once in a while where she could do whatever she wanted while he watched Ralph. He owed her for her hard work, and it was important for each of his team members to receive adequate rest – Paige was no exception.

Walter had been so lost in thought that he didn't even realize Paige's arms wrapped around his neck, nor the fact that her cheek was resting against the crook of his neck. Or even that she was sitting on his lap as she held him close. When he inquired what she was doing, she told him she was making sure they maintain their cover in case any of the people they had encountered on the cruise came walking by the Jacuzzi. He simply nodded and inwardly applauded her for making quite the deduction. He found himself wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her firmly against him. He wasn't sure if it was his mind telling him to maintain his cover, or if it was _something else_ responding to the sensations her soft touch was sending him. Whichever reason it was, it ultimately didn't matter because he secretly enjoyed the feeling her smooth skin pressed against his flesh.

"You know what would make our covers more authentic?" Paige asked quietly as her lips buzzed softly against his neck.

"What?" His statement was more of a challenge than a query.

"A repeat of what we did in the cargo hold." Paige replied as she avoided his gaze. "I mean," she finally looked into his eyes, "that is, if you're totally okay with it. The last time, I sort of ambushed you due to the circumstances…."

He considered her proposition and determined that the more tactile he was with Paige, the more believable their cover would appear to other people. And he couldn't inwardly deny the subtle longing he had had all afternoon to feel her lips against his again. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. "I-if y-you th-think, um, if you think it'll b-b-benefi –" As if she had read his mind, she cupped his cheeks and pressed her lips against his, saving him the trouble of answering her.

Unlike the first time, he was quick to respond to her kiss. Her arms tightened around his neck as she twisted her hips around and straddled him within the water. When he felt her tongue push past his lips, he gave into his desires for the woman in his arms and found himself getting slightly more agile with each touch and kiss. His fingertips slipped underneath the back of her bikini top, and he kept telling himself that their kisses and every inappropriate thing they were doing was justified by their undercover identities. He told himself the way he touched her, kissed her and fortuitously made her moan into his mouth was all for show no matter how much he (dare he ever admit it) wished there was more to their relationship than a fake operation.

But as Paige had said earlier in the suite – the kiss they shared in the cargo hold had meant nothing. But with how deep their kisses were along with every sensation she was stimulating him with, he had to wonder if what she said about the first kiss was nothing more than a ruse, itself, to hide what she was really feeling.

And when they heard the owner of a familiar, gravelly voice clear his throat, they jumped apart and saw Cabe standing next to the Jacuzzi with an amused expression on his face. "Am I," he cleared his throat again, "interrupting something?"

"No" / "Yes." Paige and Walter answered at the same time, causing the smirk on Cabe's face to grow even wider.

"While you've been canoodling over here, I've spent the last half hour trying to get ahold of you two. Now I know _why_ you weren't answering your cell phones." Cabe grinned. "Anyway, now that I've finally found both of you, I just wanted to let you know that Toby and Happy have reason to believe that _it_ was an inside job."

"That," Walter cleared his throat, "That would make sense. Any suspects?"

"Not yet. Team LA just received documents of each worker at that command center. Toby's running his analyses over them now." Cabe explained. "What about the two of you? Made any progress?"

"Hm?" Walter inquired as Paige pressed her lips together.

"Not about _that_ ," Cabe twirled his finger at _them_ , "the case, you idiots."

"Oh," Walter shook away his _other_ thoughts and answered Cabe's question, explaining to the agent about the blueprints, the tracking software and the espionage he and Paige plan on doing late within the night.

"So the two of you decided to get better acquainted in the meantime." Cabe mused. "In any case, keep me posted. Text me the location of the you-know-whats once you've gathered them. We'll meet at the poop deck around 1:30 AM and go from there."

"Okay," Walter nodded.

Cabe started to walk away but turned around to say one last thing, "Whatever's going on between the two of you, just remember one rule."

"What?" Both Walter and Paige inquired.

"No funny business during a case." Cabe held in his laughter as he walked away from them, leaving both the genius and the translator very, very flustered.

Shortly after Cabe left, Walter and Paige made their way back to their suite to check on the progress of Walter's computer. As Walter went straight to his laptop the moment they entered their suite, Paige made her way to her luggage and pulled out dry, comfortable clothing. She escaped into the bathroom and took a shower as Walter started the search for the rockets. Based on the massive size of the ship, he expected the process to take a while. In the event that he was away from his computer once the rockets were located, he turned on the phone app he had created as a pager for the program on his computer and calibrated the necessary information he needed in order to connect to the ship's Wi-Fi.

When Paige walked out of the bathroom, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white tank top. She walked over to the bed and laid down over the comforter. She seemed exhausted. Walter stood up from his computer and walked over to her. "The search might take some time."

"Okay." Paige spoke softly. "I'm beat so I think I'm going to take a nap if that's okay with you."

"Okay." Walter nodded and then disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower himself.

And a very, very cold shower too.

**~ SCORPION ~**

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**WriterFreak001:**

Well? What did you think? I had a lot of fun writing this chapter as well! :)

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For right now, I am only going to post the first five chapters and see if this story is a hit on AO3. If you would like to continue reading the story, you can find the completed version here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11005424/1/Love-Boat

**WriterFreak001:**

Almost one week left until the sixteenth episode airs! It feels like AGES! Aaaand CBS hasn't been doing us any favors by not releasing any spoiler photos or episode clips of the episode. :/

I was informed by a review that Sly will be impersonating a millionaire on the cruise (I'm actually surprised that he is going on the ship due to his many fears…, but maybe Walter's presence keeps him grounded (no pun intended)). I do believe that since Toby and Happy are helping Ralph with his crush dilemma, they are probably staying in LA to 'babysit' Ralph. As for Paige…, I have a feeling she probably joins the team on the cruise since they'd be dealing with a lot of passengers (my guess) in order to find these dangerous rockets. The release did not mention Brendan Hines as a guest star / recurring character so my money (not that I have any to begin with) is betting on the theory that he is not going to be included in this episode. THANK GOD!

Anyway, I'll shut up now.

PS. This fic is most definitely going to be more than five chapters. I'm not going to say how many, but my goal is to finish this puppy up BEFORE Feb. 9.

* * *

**WARNING:**

**Readers' Discretion is advised! (now you can't say I didn't warn ya!)**

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**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated M as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**When Paige walked out of the bathroom, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white tank top. She walked over to the bed and laid down over the comforter. She seemed exhausted. Walter stood up from his computer and walked over to her. "The search might take some time."**

" **Okay." Paige spoke softly. "I'm beat so I think I'm going to take a nap if that's okay with you."**

" **Okay." Walter nodded and then disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower himself.**

**And a very, very cold shower too.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

****

**Chapter 5**

**~ SCORPION ~**

Once Toby obtained the employment records, he immediately eliminated the employees with families or spouses; those kinds of people wouldn't risk getting involved with a dangerous heist. He also eliminated all of the employees who had been working with the command center for more than ten years; they also wouldn't risk their career over a national security robbery. He was down to five people, and all five of them had joined the company within the last five years and were still single according to their status.

"Any luck?" Sylvester asked as he hovered over Toby's desk.

"I've managed to narrow the suspects down to these five people. The all seem like potential candidates." Toby hummed as he stared at the five profiles.

"Doc," Happy called over from her desk, "those pictures are probably a few years old; you're not going to get anything physically current from those files. Your best bet is to broaden your scope a little bit and check their phone and credit records. Also, it might be a good idea to fact check their names; for all we know, one of them might be an alias."

"Happy," Sylvester spoke softly, "These people work for the government; they probably had triple fact checking done on their profiles before joining the workforce."

"The government isn't always reliable," both Happy and Toby responded as they looked at Sylvester. Toby continued. "Happy's got a point, Sly. If any of these suspects were desperate enough, they could have purchased a dead guy's social security number from the black market – apparently that's a thing these days."

"Or," Happy said as she walked up to them, "they could have created their own identities. Think about it, these guys are borderline geniuses; sure, they're not as good as us, but they have the hacking skills to implant that bug on the command center's software so they should be able to know their way around creating a fake life. That's like child's play compared to Walter's skills."

"I'll get started on looking into their names; we find one that's fake, that's our man… or woman." Sylvester said as he picked up the five files and took them over to his computer. "Why don't you take a break, Toby? You look like you could use one."

"Thanks, Sly." Toby tipped his hat towards the human calculator. "I owe you one."

Happy made her way over to Toby's desk and crossed her arms in front of him. "So, Doc," Happy glanced over at Ralph, "Figured out what's wrong with junior over there?"

"I think I might have an idea," Toby smirked as he stood up and stretched his arms. "Just watch the master." Toby walked over to Ralph and hovered over the boy's shoulder as he played on his mother's computer. "So, Ralph…."

"Yeah?"

"You've been sighing a lot recently," Toby noted. "Been having girl troubles at school?" That question certainly caught Ralph's attention.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not at all," Toby lied. "I'm a behaviorist, remember? I just know these things."

"What else can you tell?" Ralph inquired as he looked at the shrink.

"Well, you occasionally look towards Walter's desk so I assume you're wanting to talk to him about something as well." Toby deduced as he straightened up his back and circled around Paige's desk to face the boy.

Ralph sighed, "There's a Valentine's Day party at school on Friday, and I am hoping Walter will be back from the cruise before then."

"And why's that?" Happy asked as she joined in on the conversation.

"Well," Ralph shrugged, "Walter's like me, and, well, I can tell my mom likes him a lot."

"Go on." Toby encouraged the boy.

Ralph swallowed audibly, "I was hoping he could help me with something."

"A project?" Happy guessed.

"Not really…," Ralph sighed.

"Then what?" Toby raised an eyebrow; he had a feeling he knew _exactly_ where the conversation was going.

"I need his advice," Ralph answered softly.

Toby leaned over towards Happy and muttered, "This is going to get good!" Then he focused back on Ralph and asked, "Advice about handling something at school?"

"Sort of," Ralph grew quiet. Toby swore the boy was blushing. Toby was about to say something else to encourage the boy to speak, but Ralph continued. "I, um, I think I like this g-girl…."

"Does she like you back?" Happy raised an eyebrow.

Ralph shrugged. "I don't think she knows I exist."

"Then what do you need Walter for?" Happy inquired.

Ralph didn't answer right away.

"Ralph?" Toby tried to hold in his laughter. He knew _exactly_ what the boy was thinking.

"My mom likes Walter," Ralph suddenly said, "and I think Walter likes my mom too."

"That's kind of obvious." Happy and Toby replied in unison.

"I was hoping," Ralph gulped, "I was hoping that Walter could give me, um, give me some advice."

"Advice on what?" Toby asked, feeling a sense of déjà vu wash over him.

"Um," Ralph blushed, "on h-how t-to get a g-girl to, um, to notice me."

And there it was. Toby burst into laughter, and Happy couldn't help but chuckle herself. "That's too good," Toby wiped a tear from his eye. "Trust me, Ralph," Toby took off his hat and twirled it on his finger, "Walter is the _last_ person in the world you'd want to ask advice from – especially advice about romancing a woman."

"Ralph's ten; having a crush on a girl is hardly the same as romancing a woman," Happy rolled her eyes. Happy then looked at Ralph, "Does she know your name?" Ralph nodded. "Well, that's a start, then. You're further than most kid geniuses ever get."

"Hang on, hang on," Toby smirked, "I'm still stuck on the fact that you wanted _Walter_ 's advice of all people. Why him?"

"He likes my mom, and my mom likes him." Ralph shrugged. "I assume Walter's doing something right."

"The only thing Walter's doing," Toby ran his hand through his hair and continued laughing, "is being Walter. The guy has _no_ romantic bone in his body. So whatever he's doing to romance your mom is purely accidental. And maybe _that's_ why your mom likes Walter so much; if anything, Mr. 197 is as genuine as it gets – he may be tactless, but at least he doesn't lie to your mom like a lot of guys do."

"He _does_ withhold the truth at times," Happy reminded Toby.

"But that hardly _ever_ happens," Toby rolled his eyes. "The truth is, Ralph," Toby smirked again, "Walter might be having _somewhat_ success as far as his odd relationship with your mother goes, but he doesn't have to try _anything_ to get your mother's attention. The fact that your mother is attracted to him is beyond me – no offense to Mr. 197 or anything, but he's the _last_ guy on the planet most women have the patience to deal with. I mean," Toby chuckled, "you can _ask_ him for advice, but I bet you ten bucks he wouldn't even know how to answer your question, Ralph. If you want _real_ advice, my couch is always open."

"And what kind of advice do you have, doc? It's not like you're scoring any points of your own." Happy chuckled as she rose an eyebrow skeptically.

"Love is a delicate thing, Happy. Much like someone else I know." He winked.

She rolled her eyes and then turned to Ralph. "Why don't you ask your mom for advice? She seems to know a lot more about love than the rest of us."

"She's not a genius; she wouldn't understand." Ralph sighed.

"I see," Toby mused. "Well, your party is Friday so that gives us a few days to work with. And since the analytical part of the case is almost complete, we'll have some free time on our hands to help you out."

"What do you mean, 'we', Doc?" Happy inquired as she folded her arms in front of her.

"Well, the closest we have to a girl is you, Happy; Ralph might need some insight of the matters of a woman's heart." Toby shrugged and smirked. "But, you know, if you're not up to the challenge, we could always recruit Sly; he's a walking, talking emoticon."

Happy looked at Sylvester who was humming to himself as he did the background checks on the five suspects. Happy sighed. "No offence to Sly, but he's a bit over the top when it comes to emotions; if Ralph emulated him, he'd end up scaring this girl instead of getting her to say 'hi.' Ralph needs to be forward enough to attract attention but also subtle so he doesn't attract _every_ girl's attention nor scare this girl away."

"So does that mean you're in?" Toby smirked as Ralph's eyes traveled over to Happy.

Happy sighed. "I guess, but I'm only doing it for Ralph and because your insight on women is pretty crappy."

"Dually noted." Toby smirked and gave Ralph a high five. "All right, we're going to be calling this Operation L'amour."

"Operation L'amour?" Happy asked as if she was unimpressed. "Could it be any _more_ obvious?"

"I like it." Ralph muttered.

"Oh?" Toby's eyebrows lifted. "You see that, Happy? Ralph _likes_ it."

"Whatever," she shook her head in dismay and then left for Sylvester's desk to check in on his progress and see if she could help in any way.

"May this be a life lesson for you, Ralph," Toby muttered, "Even if the girl you like starts playing hard-to-get once she knows you're interested in her, don't give up. With some women, all it takes is a delicate touch to make them notice you; and then there's women like Happy," Toby lowered his voice, "who require a freakin' jack hammer for a guy to get _any_ attention around here."

"Heard that!" Happy frowned as she looked over in Toby and Ralph's direction.

"It was a compliment!" Toby called back, defending himself.

"Like I said," Happy passed Toby and Ralph as she headed for her desk, "You're insight on women _sucks_."

**~ SCORPION ~**

An hour passed since Walter started the tracking software on his computer, and not only did he manage to obtain a precise location, but he was able to account for five strong signals that were concentrated in one restricted area of the ship. When he called Cabe to notify him of the progress within the case, Cabe informed him that the others had placed a name and a face to the culprit responsible for the heist. Cabe also mentioned that the culprit was listed as an employee on the ship and not as a passenger. As it turned out, Inna Mikhailov – the daughter of a Russian terrorist – had decided to follow in her father's footsteps by stealing those rockets in hopes of starting a war between America and Russia. According to her file, she worked with the command center for three years as a way to gather Intel on newly developed weapons being designed in the US. Once her plan was in action, she applied for a job on the cruise as a guaranteed getaway from the states. Cabe instructed Walter to focus on the case at hand and deactivate the rockets at all cost. The CIA agents had their orders to take care of Inna Mikhailov so all Walter needed to worry about were the rockets.

Once Walter ended the call with Cabe, he heard some stirring coming from the bed and saw Paige yawning and stretching her arms. "Who was that?" she asked as she slid off of the bed and approached him.

"Cabe." Walter said quickly. "Toby, Happy and Sly figured out who was responsible for the heist. The CIA agents onboard will deal with her; we're instructed to handle the technical side of things."

"And are you actually going to follow orders this time?" Paige raised her eyebrow and smirked. She knew him like a book.

He nodded. "This time, yes."

"Wow." She mused.

"What?" He asked as he stood up and walked towards her; he folded his arms in front of him and raised his eyebrow.

"Nothing," she laughed. "It's just… _unlike_ you to respect your authority."

"Well," he shrugged and forced a laugh, "the fact that we are surrounded by miles of ocean water may be a small factor."

Paige hooked her arms around his neck and smirked, "Could Walter O'Brien actually be afraid of the ocean?"

"I'm not afraid of the ocean," Walter answered stoically. "Or anything," he chuckled slightly, "in that matter."

"Oh?" Paige gave him a skeptic look. "So you're not afraid of proximity?"

"Proximity makes me uncomfortable," he gulped as her palms fell from his neck and slowly trailed down his arms until they found his hands. "I-it's not a fear."

"I see," she spoke softly and met his eyes as she brought his hands to her lips. "And what about," she kissed his palm, "the possibility of Ralph and I moving to Portland, Maine?"

"You're not moving there, though." He frowned. Had she reconsidered her decision?

"No," she reassured him, "I'm not. But before I made the decision to stay in LA, I recall that Drew's offer did not sit well with you."

"It didn't." He remembered the afternoon when he had confessed to Paige how much he cared about Ralph and her, and blatantly told her he didn't want them to move.

"Were you afraid of the possibility that I would have accepted Drew's offer?" Paige's arms hooked around his neck again, and she leaned into him, forcing him backwards into one of the sofa chairs. Paige planted her knees on each side of Walter's legs and trapped him against the chair.

Walter didn't know if she was teasing him like the time in her car and when they were in the suite earlier in the day, if she was conducting some sort of social or physical experiment to help him be more comfortable around her in public for the sake of maintaining their covers or if she was actually trying to seduce him for information regarding his fears. Whatever her incentive was, she was driving him crazy with all of the mix signals she had been giving him. And the fact that they were posing as newlyweds wasn't helping Walter understand Paige's personal objective in the least. She had said their first kiss didn't mean anything. Their second kiss was labeled as a ruse to keep their undercover identities in check.

He knew she enjoyed teasing him, and he was sure she knew he was attracted to her – how else would she be able to successfully manipulate him into answering her questions or forcing him to do wild things like jumping into a Jacuzzi to preserve her modesty?

"Well, Walter?" her lips buzzed softly in his ear, reminding him of her smooth voice humming inside his ear during the last undercover operation he had to endure. That was the first time he recognized the pleasing aesthetics of her voice.

He had already forgotten her question. "Hmmnnn," was the only sound that escaped his lips as he closed his eyes in response to the supple drumming of her voice.

She mellifluously sang his name into his ear, sending shivers down his spine. "Guess what?" she muttered as her fingers lost themselves inside his curls. He mumbled something incoherently, causing Paige to laugh as she slightly pulled herself away from him and squished her palms against his cheeks. "You're too easy," she chuckled as she slid off of him walked towards the bed.

He frowned. So it was another one of her ploys, again. He felt exploited, and he didn't like it. It would have been one thing if they were out in public and had to maintain their covers like the time in the cargo hold or in the Jacuzzi, but they were alone and had nothing to prove to no one. He was growing frustrated with all of the mixed signals, and he didn't like being humiliated over and over again. He wanted answers, and before they go anywhere, he was going to get them. He stood up from the chair and wore a frown as he approached Paige Dineen. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Hm?" she acknowledged the fact that he said something, but he could tell she wasn't really paying attention to him. She was sifting through her luggage for something.

"You heard me," he folded his arms in front of him; his stern voice caught her attention; she stopped what she was doing and turned around to face him.

"Keep doing what, Walter?" she placed her hands on her hips, challenging Walter to clarify his answer.

He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. "Never mind," he backed down, "It was stupid." As he turned away, she called out his name. He inhaled a deep breath and commanded himself to turn around, but he didn't move. He groaned in frustration and decided to continue with his query. He spun around on his heels and walked towards her as both of his hands ran through his hair. "I can, um, I can understand y-your intentions, um, f-f-for a-an un-un-undercover, um, an undercover operation," he paused and inhaled a deep breath, "and I c-can j-justify y-your, um, y-your intentions w-when y-you're h-helping, um, w-when you're p-prepping me f-for an, um, an undercover," he gulped, "an undercover a-assignment," he paused and bit his lip, "b-but th-the way y-you, um, the way you c-constantly t-tease me w-with," he forced a laugh, "w-with your t-tantalizing sh-shenanigans conf-f-fuses me." He paused again and then added, "I don't like, um, I don't like being exploited."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and sighed, "It was not my intention to make you feel used like that."

"Then w-why do you d-do it?" Walter was serious about wanting answers.

"You want the truth?" Her voice was soft but to the point.

"Yes." Walter nodded.

Paige looked at the floor as Walter circled around her and stood between her and the bed. He recognized her expression; she was uncomfortable about something. Usually when she avoided his gaze, she was either upset or uncomfortable; he wondered if she was experiencing both feelings at the same time. Just when he thought she was going to explain everything to him, she tapped her fingers along the bed and finally looked him in the eyes. She was clearly debating something. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead, she said, "Oh, to hell with explanations!" And before he knew it, she grabbed his cheeks as she tackled him down to the bed and pulled him into a desperate, electrifying kiss.

Her tongue rolled into his mouth as she kissed him with such passion and desire; it wasn't like any other kiss she had shared with him – the other two paled in comparison. One of his hands firmly pressed against her back, and his other palm gripped her shoulder as he held her against him. Their kisses were messy and wet but nourishing. When she grinded her hips against his, Walter lost his resolve and rolled on top of her, trapping her against the soft mattress. And, oh, did he kiss her.

Paige eagerly loosened Walter's shirt from his jeans and pulled it over his head before tossing it onto the floor. He hastily unbuttoned her blouse and tugged it off of her shoulders, not really caring where it disappeared to. He brought his lips to the crook of her neck and feathered kisses along her collarbone. Paige's fingers twisted within his dark, curly locks, and she finally spoke, sending all sorts of sensations down Walter's spine as her soothing voice buzzed against his ear. "The reason," she panted, "I had been teasing you," she arched her back as he reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, "was because," she looked into Walter's eyes as he hovered over her, "I couldn't _stand_ being alone with you and _not_ touching you." She reached up and caressed his face. "I just wasn't sure if you felt the same way."

"And what is your conclusion now?" He asked as he gazed into her eyes.

She smirked, "Wouldn't _you_ like to know." Before Walter could say anything, she tossed off her bra, hooked her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another hungry kiss.

**~ SCORPION ~**

A few hours later, Walter and Paige lay lazily in each other's arms on top of the bed as both of them continuously replayed everything that had transpired between them inside their minds. Walter was _still_ trying to wrap his mind over the fact that Paige Dineen had had sex with him and was _still_ lying next to him; the last few woman he slept with were gone before he had woken up. He reached over Paige and checked her phone for the time. It was almost six.

She stirred against him as he relaxed into the pillows. He finally remembered the dinner and dance he owed her from earlier. "Are you still wanting to have a fancy dinner?"

"I _am_ getting hungry." Paige replied as her stomach growled as if on command. "After what we just did, I need more sustenance. And I'm sure you do too."

"And what of that dance?" Walter inquired as Paige slightly hovered over him. Her palm softly touched his abdomen and slithered past his navel; her ghostly touch sent a plethora of sensations throughout his body.

She pulled him into a brief kiss and winked, " _Oh_ , we already _danced_ , Walter." He swallowed the lump in his throat as she continued, "And if you're willing," she kissed him again, "we can come back here after dinner and tango some more."

"O-okay," Walter said with a stiff voice, causing Paige to laugh and kiss him one more time before she slipped out of his arms and slid off of the bed. He watched her as she slipped on her undergarments with fascination. He eventually pushed himself off of the bed and made his way to his luggage on the other side of the suite. Once Paige was fully dressed in a long, black, strapless dress and had applied her makeup, she helped Walter finalize his attire by handing him his black bowtie and slipping his tuxedo jacket on over his shoulders. At the time he had packed for the cruise, Toby told him he was going to need the tuxedo he never returned to Hetty, and against Walter's better judgment, the shrink had been right.

When they were both finally dressed, Walter remembered Cabe's subtle instruction from earlier in the day. "If it's any consolation to you," he said as Paige picked up her purse and he grabbed his phone, "I did, um, manage to undermine Cabe's authority at least _once_ today."

"Oh?" Paige raised an eyebrow as they left the suite. "How so?"

Walter bit his lip, "He said no funny business, remember?"

Paige laughed and slightly shook her head in response. Then she lowered her voice and mumbled, "What Cabe doesn't know, won't hurt him."

"Finally," Walter muttered under his breath, "A woman after my own heart."

**~ SCORPION ~**

Dinner was not as bad as Walter had imagined it; for once, he and Paige weren't bothered by any of the people they had met throughout the day. They received high-end service, and the food wasn't all too bad. The only reason Walter had agreed to treat Paige to dinner – aside from the fact that he had lost a bet – was because Cabe had told them that Homeland would reimburse them for all of their expenses on the cruise, and as Walter expected, the bill wasn't cheap.

Before they returned to their suite, they meandered a bit and made their way to the bow of the ship. The sun had set, and the night sky was abundant with bright stars stretching for miles around them; the fluorescent moon was full and vibrant. If there was anything Walter found remotely beautiful and aesthetic, it was the night sky. Unlike paintings and silly holidays, there was no ascribed value in astronomy. The universe might be filled with eons of mysteries, but unlike everything else in Walter's life, he could always rely on two things: technology and the facts of the universe including mathematics, science and astronomy. Facts did not change, and while the point of reference changed on Earth, stars and planets were constant. Just like mathematics and science were consistent too.

"Plato had this weird and illogical theory," Walter said as he looked at the sky, "that a metaphysical reality existed beyond the universe known as the Realm of the Forms. And in that realm, Plato believed nonphysical elements such as… truth, beauty, love," he paused and quickly looked at Paige before continuing, "essences like Dogness and acorn-ness, maleness, femaleness and the like all exist as perfect, physical properties, and he had this insane idea that we all _know_ this realm exists because we've _seen_ these essences once before in another life."

"Sounds plausible if you believe in God." Paige shrugged as she gazed at the stars and leaned against the railing of the ship.

"I don't believe in what I can't see." Walter said as he caught her attention. When she didn't say anything in response, he looked back at the stars and continued. "Anyway, to support his theory, he also believed that the physical objects on Earth were flawed constituents. He believed there was no such thing as a perfect triangle except for what he thought to have existed in the Realm of the Forms. So, despite the fact that hundreds of mathematicians throughout time have managed to calculate the dimensions of perfect triangles, according to Plato, they don't exist. They're just lines construed together in the shape of a triangle that represent triangle-ness."

"I can sense you disagree with Plato's theory." Paige deduced as Walter sidestepped behind her and pointed to the night sky.

"Plato had _something_ accurate in his theory," Walter continued. "Nature was as perfect as the world came to be. Nature's only function is to exist, and nothing is as perfect as that. One thing I have come to appreciate about astronomy is that there are no mistakes out there in the universe. Like nature, the universe simply exists to function. Without mapping on the stars in the sky, measuring time would have been next to impossible. The universe is as perfect as it goes, and it's very dependable; it doesn't change like a lot of other things." Walter took Paige's hand and pointed to the stars with her finger. "Plato was wrong to assume perfect triangles do not exist in this realm. I'm staring at one right now."

Walter pointed Paige's finger to a bright, reddish star and said, "That's Betelgeuse, the armpit of Orion." Then he trailed her finger across the sky to another star. "That's Procyon – the back leg of Canis Minor." And then he stopped her finger at a third star. "The last one is Sirius, the girth of Canis Major." He traced the outline of the three stars again and then brought her arm back down before she linked her hands with his. "All three of those stars mark the vertices of a phenomena known as the Winter Triangle. There's also the Summer Triangle, but that's not out this time of year. Granted, I understand that from Earth's point of reference, we see a perfect triangle, but in reality, these stars in their actual location are nothing close to resembling a triangle, but it's all about perception, I guess."

"You know," Paige turned around in his arms and hooked her hands around his neck, "I find it interesting how you only believe what you can see, but don't believe in that silly junk science called love."

"I've already explained my thoughts to you on love," Walter frowned. "All it is is a secretion of chemicals within the brain; nothing more."

"As I recall," Paige whispered, "You specifically said that it's foolish to think a person can have a strong effect over another person, am I right?"

"I did say something… along those lines."

"So," Paige raised an eyebrow, "that whole speech you made several weeks ago about Ralph's impact on your life meant nothing?"

"I th-think you're taking things out of context," Walter stammered.

"No. I don't think I am."

"I recall saying _romantic_ love was a fairytale." Walter corrected her. "People who are affected by the affection of others only have weak resolves who can't do anything to think or act for themselves."

"Oh, really?" Paige smirked. "Mr. O'Brien, you are certainly one hell of a walking contradiction, and I'm going to prove you wrong."

"I doubt it."

"And just _how_ many times are you going to challenge me and lose today?" Paige laughed as she pulled away from him and started walking away from the bow of the ship. "If I recall correctly," she said briskly as Walter caught up to her, "you felt exploited earlier because of all of those times I had teased you and _successfully_ managed to get you to forget how to function. Now, are you saying that you weren't _affected_ by anything in particular?"

"Those," Walter grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side of the ship, "were nothing more than a stimulated responses caused by strong sexual urges for you."

"And so, what we _did_ earlier today, meant nothing?" Paige frowned. "Unbelievable." Before Walter could say anything, she ripped her arm out of his grip and stormed away from him, leaving him standing like an idiot as he watched her angrily march away.

"Smooth, O'Brien," Cabe had suddenly said from the shadows. "Very smooth."

"Shut up," Walter snapped. "You don't know anything." He started to charge after Paige, but Cabe grabbed his arm.

"Calm down before your IQ drops, kid." Cabe said as he stopped Walter from leaving. "I know enough to know you're one big ass idiot for letting her get away like that."

"I simply reminded her what thought about love." Walter frowned. "I don't know why she's upset."

"Take it from someone who knows a thing or two about women," Cabe spoke quietly, "whether or not you believe love is real, most people do, Paige is no exception. Ever since she and her son came into your life, Walter, you've changed in a lot of ways. I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but she and her son have _definitely_ had an effect on you. I might not have heard the entire conversation between the two of you, but if I know anything at all, I can tell you right now that Paige most likely feels exploited. Now I don't know if you've fallen in love with Paige – only _you_ can figure that one out by yourself, but before you blow this case out of the water, you better get your ass up to that suite and find a way to apologize to her. And fast."

Before Walter could say anything, Cabe walked away and left him alone. Inhaling a deep breath, Walter ran his hand through his hair and then bolted for the elevator.

**~ SCORPION ~**

As expected, Paige was in the suite, lying on the bed, facing the opposite direction of the door. Walter sighed, and she told him to go away, but he was too damn obstinate for his own good. He sat down in one of the chairs and released another sigh. He had never heard Paige cry before, but he certainly didn't like the feeling, knowing that he was the reason she was upset. He called out her name, but she said she didn't want to hear his damn excuses.

"Look," he stood up and walked towards the bed. "You know I'm not the best when it comes to admitting, um," he inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, "to admitting how I feel. Before I met you and your son," he gulped and slowly spoke to try to avoid the stuttering and the utterances, "I saw things black and white. Facts and fiction. Science and fairytales. I've always heavily relied on facts and figures because it's where I feel safe." He caught Paige's attention as she turned to look at him. He continued, "And as I said before, your son has made me into a better me – that hasn't changed." He inhaled another deep breath, "You asked me earlier today what I was afraid of. And, for the longest time in my life, I was not really afraid of anything. Small things, yes, but those are insignificant to this conversation right now."

He honestly didn't know where he was going with this conversation, but it was too late to turn back. "I hide behind facts and figures when I don't like to confront things…like my feelings. I've always done that, and it's not something that'll just go away. I can calculate algorithms with ease, build rockets, save over fifty LAX planes from crashing into one another and compute functions and derivatives in my sleep."

"But?" Paige finally spoke.

"But…," Walter's voice faded as he tried to figure out what he was going to say next. He hated pep talks, and he certainly wasn't any good at giving heartfelt speeches. "But… the truth is, Paige," he looked away from her and ran his hand through his hair, "I'm, um, I'm inexplicably c-crazy about you… and not being able to understand these, um, these intense f-f-feelings I c-cannot stop h-having about you frightens me to no end."

Paige sat up from the bed and slowly crawled over to him. She whispered his name with sympathy.

"And, um," Walter continued, "And the e-easiest w-way for me to process everything is to h-hide, um, hide behind a lie a-and t-tell myself i-it isn't…, you know, that it isn't love I'm feeling."

"Walter…," Paige called his name as he finally looked at her.

"What?"

Paige smiled and pulled him into a brief kiss. "I love you too."

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

A few things….

One: Remember, this is just my WAIGE fantasy, so I know for a fact that NONE of this will happen in the actual episode.

Two: I do believe there is a LOT of sexual tension between Walter and Paige on the show … soooooo …. Yeah.

Three: I do extensive research for each chapter of everything I write, and I found out that geniuses usually have aggressive sexual behavior (probably because they can't handle EQ very well) sooo that answers any questions about why Walter seems to respond to things and such. (Remember, Walt isn't a robot; he's just a bit socially awkward.)

Four: I think WAIGE are entitled to having arguments and such - and I don't doubt Walt's opinion of love will rehash itself in a future episode.

Ummmm I think that's it. I know this was a long chapter so the next one won't be up probably til Tuesday.

Let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

**WARNING:**

**Readers' Discretion is advised! (now you can't say I didn't warn ya!)**

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

 **Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**He honestly didn't know where he was going with this conversation, but it was too late to turn back. "I hide behind facts and figures when I don't like to confront things…like my feelings. I've always done that, and it's not something that'll just go away. I can calculate algorithms with ease, build rockets, save over fifty LAX planes from crashing into one another and compute functions and derivatives in my sleep."**

" **But?" Paige finally spoke.**

" **But…," Walter's voice faded as he tried to figure out what he was going to say next. He hated pep talks, and he certainly wasn't any good at giving heartfelt speeches. "But… the truth is, Paige," he looked away from her and ran his hand through his hair, "I'm, um, I'm inexplicably c-crazy about you… and not being able to understand these, um, these intense f-f-feelings I c-cannot stop h-having about you frightens me to no end."**

**Paige sat up from the bed and slowly crawled over to him. She whispered his name with sympathy.**

" **And, um," Walter continued, "And the e-easiest w-way for me to process everything is to h-hide, um, hide behind a lie a-and t-tell myself i-it isn't…, you know, that it isn't love I'm feeling."**

" **Walter…," Paige called his name as he finally looked at her.**

" **What?"**

**Paige smiled and pulled him into a brief kiss. "I love you too."**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 6**

**~ S** **CORPION ~**

After the last hour and a half, Paige felt like she was reliving her dream she had several weeks ago when she dreamt about Walter walking out of her bathroom in nothing but a dark blue robe and wet hair. Except, only this time, Walter was _not_ wearing a dark blue robe, and she was _definitely_ not existing inside a dream. Everything that transpired between them since they boarded the cruise was _all_ very real, and she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around all of it. She wondered if their relationship – whatever it was now – would return to the lingering looks once they were back in LA, or if things would be different now that she and Walter have made love – more than once since their mini semi-vacation started.

"You're distracted," Walter noted as she stared out the window and overlooked the dark waters stretching for miles in every direction. She had slipped out of the bed when Walter fell asleep and went to the bathroom. She had every intention to return to the bed, but when she saw the world through the small window, she lost herself in her thoughts and contemplated several things – including the fact that her new-found relationship with Walter seemed to be going way too fast. Not only did they share their first kiss together, but less than twenty-four hours later, they were both in bed, naked and making love. It was almost too much for her to handle – especially since she was still trying to ease Drew out of her life in the process. "Paige?"

When she didn't answer him for the second time, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle. She leaned into Walter's embrace as she continued to look out the window. For the first time in her life, she was beginning to understand just how big the world was and realized what sort of burden Walter seemed to always carry on his back every single day. Walter had a big purpose in the world, and so did his team – even Interpol was recognizing Scorpion's significance. "Just thinking," she finally muttered as his arms tightened around her stomach.

"About what?" Walter inquired as Paige stared at his reflection in the window. He was holding her just how they had practiced in the suite shortly after they arrived on the cruise. She wondered if he was simply holding her like that because it was the only romantic embrace he was familiar (and probably comfortable) with, or if she had some kind of impact on his EQ, making it easier for him to connect with her on an emotional and romantic level.

"Just various things," she softly answered.

"Does it have a-anything to do with, um, w-with us?" Walter's innocent query caused Paige to turn around and hook her arms around his neck.

Before she answered, he inhaled a deep breath and started to stammer incoherently. She laughed and pressed her finger against his lips. "Walter," she cupped his cheeks, "You don't have anything to worry about, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

"Now," she turned to look at the clock beside the bed, "It's a quarter til eleven. We have to meet Cabe at 1:30. We should probably get some sleep before then, don't you think?"

"I think," Walter rested his palms over Paige's shoulders, "we could make use of the remaining time in a much more efficient way."

"Oh? And what would _that_ be?" Paige teased him as his hands slid down to her waist.

"I think you know." Walter suggested as he guided her over to the foot of the bed where he toppled both of them over and then pressed his body against hers. She wrapped her legs around his hips and kissed him fervently as she clawed at his back. She pushed all of her worries about their murky relationship aside and focused on the present where the man she had fallen in love with was _showing_ her just how much he truly _did_ love her. He kissed her. Held her and caressed her. His fingers fondled her body gently. And at the same time, his touch was fiery and passionate. She felt as though every touch… kiss… lick… was Walter's way of committing her body to memory; she felt appreciated, and it was a beautiful feeling.

She knew Walter struggled with verbalizing his feelings, and he constantly claimed he didn't feel _anything_ , but over the past several months, she had learned that Walter had been putting up a front to guard whatever feelings he _did_ feel inside of him. The way he cherished her was proof that Walter O'Brien was capable of love, and Paige didn't need him to articulate his feelings with words to know how he felt about her because the way he made her feel when he gazed into her eyes as they made love was purely indescribable. Walter might not be a man of many feelings, but when he _did_ feel, he _definitely_ showed it – in his own way, of course.

As Walter's palms gently massaged her breasts, her fingers tantalized his scalp, and she found herself moaning into his mouth in response to everything she was feeling under his burning touch. When she heard her phone buzz beside the bed on the bedside table, she blindly reached for her phone and accidentally knocked it onto the ground. She didn't care to search for it. She turned Walter over, pinned him against the bed and kissed him furiously as she rolled her belly against his. Minutes passed, and Walter was on top of her again, and everything they were doing grew much more intense. Need became desperate. What was once soft and gentle was now hardcore and rough – and that sort of fire was _exactly_ what Paige needed, wanted and yearned for in her life.

And Walter was definitely providing in full measure.

She heard her phone buzz again and considered pulling away to answer it, but the way the genius muttered her name in her ear completely eradicated her thoughts.

She was putty in his hands.

And when Walter's phone started blasting out "Rock You Like a Hurricane," Paige let out a frustrated groan and pushed Walter off of her.

Walter reached for his phone. "It's Toby." Paige told him to answer it because she had a strong feeling that Toby was the one who called her the last two times. Walter pressed the TALK button and put the phone on speaker. "Hello?"

" _Well it's about damn TIME someone answered!"_ Toby exclaimed through the speakers.

"What is it, Toby?" Walter was clearly annoyed.

" _Don't 'What is it, Toby' ME, Walter."_ Toby snapped in a prissy tone. _"You're the one wh – wait. Why are you pissed off at me? I should be the one who's pissed here. I've been trying to get ahold of Paige for the past ten minutes!"_

"What do you want, Toby?" Paige asked as she sat up on the bed and leaned her back against the headboard. The cherry wood was cold but soothing to touch.

" _Oh, so you'll talk to me when I call Walter, but you won't even answer your own damn cellphone."_ Toby griped as Walter sat up as well. _"I thought we were closer friends than tha – wait. What was that noise? I heard creaking."_

"It was nothing," Paige rolled her eyes and quickly changed the subject. "Why did you call, Toby?"

" _Why do I get the feeling that I'm the victim, here?"_ Toby complained.

"Toby!" Both Walter and Paige barked in their growing impatience. "Get to the point!"

" _Wow. Annoyed, touchy AND in unison. Wait a minute; that was pretty loud for you two to be on opposite sides of the room at this time of night."_ Toby's voice faded, and just when Walter and Paige thought they were in the clear, the shrink gasped. _"Holy bologna! You two were doing the nasty weren't you!?"_ He then howled with laughter.

"No we weren't!" Both Walter and Paige lied.

" _Those who deny often lie."_ Toby tsked. _"So, are you two, like, doing the nasty right now?"_

" _Who's doing the nasty?"_ They heard Happy's voice from a distance as they both struggled to speak.

" _Guys!"_ Sylvester chimed in, _"Could you be a little more considerate?! There's an innocent presence in the room."_

" _Oh, Ralph'll be fine. He's busy playing Proton Arnold. He probably doesn't even know we're here."_ Toby chuckled.

"Why isn't Ralph in bed yet?" Paige asked into the receiver. "Toby!" she called for the shrink. "Toby, why isn't Ralph in bed?!"

" _He told us you let him go to bed whenever he wants."_ Happy answered for Toby.

"And you believed him?!" Paige couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her son was staying with three of the best geniuses in the world, and they can't even seem to figure out that her son needs to go to bed at a decent hour! "He has school tomorrow!"

" _Relaaaax, mon amie. We've got it covered. Once he eats dinner –"_

"He hasn't eaten yet? What're you trying to do, kill my kid?!" Paige ran her hand through her hair and released a sigh.

" _No. If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that pizza is on its way. What were you going to expect when you let Ralph stay with a bunch of geniuses anyway? The Brady Bunch?"_ Toby chortled. _"Don't worry. Once he eats, Sly's going to take him up to Walt's bed and get him to go to sleep. We have Nyquil at the ready if the boy refuses to sleep."_

"You are _not_ drugging my son, Toby. You _hear_ me!" Paige had to take a deep breath and calm herself down before she said something she might regret.

" _Don't worry, Paige,"_ Sylvester jumped into the conversation, _"I'll make sure Ralph gets to bed and goes to sleep naturally."_

"We shouldn't even be having this discussion right now! He should be sleeping!" Paige groaned as Walter reached for the sheets and draped them over the lower halves of their bodies. "Fine," she released a heavy sigh, "You know what? Just… just get him to bed as soon as possible. He needs to be up and ready tomorrow by seven-thirty in the morning to get to school by eight. Make sure he gets to bed on time tomorrow night at nine-thirty."

" _Dually noted."_ Toby confirmed. _"So…,"_ the shrink chuckled, _"I've got a hypothetical question for you, Walter."_

"And that is?"

" _If a genius has low EQ and has trouble physically connecting with a particular woman, no pun intended, how much Viagra wou –"_

"Okay. We're done here." Paige said as she picked up Walter's phone and ended the call. She checked the time. It was nearly twelve-thirty. She handed Walter his phone and gave him a quick, hungry kiss before sliding off of the bed. She sauntered towards the bathroom door and turned on the light. "You know," Paige looked towards Walter who was watching her with such a fiery intensity. It was definitely a turn-on. "Having shower sex on a romantic cruise has always been a dream of mine." She left the door open, turned on the shower and stepped in. As she stood under the hot water, she heard the door slam shut.

And when the shower doors slid open, she grinned wickedly.

**~ SCORPION ~**

"You know," Happy said as she walked by Toby's desk, "Just because you're jealous of Walter and Paige, it doesn't mean you have to be such a smartass towards them."

Toby shrugged. "Comes with the territory." He stretched his arms and watched Sylvester escort Ralph up the stairs. "Besides, I was just teasing them a bit. They'll thank me one day."

"Doubt it."

"And who said I was jealous?" Toby raised an eyebrow. "I'm not jealous."

"Says the one desperate enough to play matchmaker for a ten year old boy and solve his own problems because you can't even figure out a way to solve your own." Happy scoffed.

"Perhaps I think this little challenge might provide some insight." Toby dismissed Happy's harsh comment and shrugged.

"For whom, exactly? You? Or, Ralph?" Happy asked as she folded her arms in front of her.

"No one in particular," Toby mused. "Maybe Ralph. Maybe me. Or even, you."

Happy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I just came over here to call you out on your smartass antics and also to say that I think you stepping in to help Ralph while Walt is away is a noble gesture. No matter how ridiculous the situation is." Toby stared at her with fascination. "What?" she frowned.

"Oh. Nothing," Toby shook his head. "Just committing this moment to memory, that's all."

"Why?"

Toby leaned back in his chair and took off his hat. "Because you just proved to me that underneath your hardened exterior, there's actually a nice person hiding within you."

"And there it is again," Happy shook her head in dismay, "the smartass."

"You know," Toby smirked. "If Walt ever decides to settle down and terminate Scorpion, you and I could tag team and call our new business: The Smartass and the Hard Ass. Sounds poetic, don't you think?"

"Keep dreaming," Happy rolled her eyes and circled back to her desk.

Unbeknownst to the behaviorist, though, she wore a small smile on her face as she walked away from him.

And Sylvester was the only one who noticed.

**~ SCORPION ~**

"What took the two of you so long?" Cabe whispered harshly as Walter and Paige scrambled down to the poop deck. "It's almost 2 AM!"

"Sorry!" Paige leaned against the railing to catch her breath. "Fell asleep," she lied.

"What's _your_ excuse?" Cabe snapped towards Walter.

"S-same." Walter stammered. The last thing he wanted was for Cabe to know the _real_ reason they were running behind.

"That better be _all_ you two were doing," Cabe said in a skeptic tone. "You're one of the smartest guys in the world, and you can't even set a damn alarm clock? Unbelievable." Cabe shook his head and started walking. "Come on. We gotta get in there and get out."

Walter and Paige followed Cabe down a flight of stairs and then they took the elevator to the main level of the ship. "We need to go down one more level."

They snuck down the employee stairway and quietly, but quickly, descended the stairs. There was a long hallway extending on either side of them. Walter pointed towards the hallway behind them, and then he took an abrupt right. He stopped in front of a door that was labeled 'Custodian Closet,' and pointed towards it. Paige pulled out the ring of keys they were given and sift through them.

"You'd think a top-of-the-line cruise would have more high-tech locks." Cabe mumbled as Paige handed the key to Walter.

"Actually, unlike high-tech locks, regular locks with keys are much harder to crack; if you didn't have a key, you'd have to be able to obtain a mold of one to make your own. High-tech security can be easily manipulated with the right kinds of tools and skillset."

"Speaking of tools," Cabe's eyes lit up. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the locksmith pen. "Perhaps this'll be easier than trying to find the damn key that goes to this door." Walter took the pen and inserted it into the keyhole as Paige put the ring of keys away. The doorknob clicked. Walter slowly pushed the door open and handed back the pen to Cabe. They all walked into the closet and saw a large safe in the back of it. "We better hope this one isn't rigged too."

"Cabe," Walter muttered, "Stand outside and keep watch. If this safe _is_ rigged, then you need to be on guard, and I suggest you call those CIA agents to keep Inna Mikhailov busy in case she's alerted. We don't know if she has some sort of hand-held detonator on her person so it's absolutely crucial that the CIA agents are on standby until I know for sure the locker isn't rigged. If it's rigged, there's a big chance she wouldn't have a detonator, but we can't know for certain."

"Copy that." Cabe said and then stepped outside of the closet.

Walter found a clear glass and filled it with water before placing it on top of the safe. He turned to Paige, but before he could say anything, she placed a finger on his lips and said, "Just because our relationship has changed, Walter, it doesn't mean you have to let your hero complex shine and treat me like some damsel in distress."

"Paige," Walter was going to be frank with her. "I admire your strength in all of this, but we don't know what's behind that door aside from the rockets."

"Which is why I'm not going to let you open it by yourself." Paige frowned and cupped his cheeks.

"Don't think about my well-being right now," Walter closed his eyes and pulled her hands off of his face, but he didn't let go of them. "Ralph is going to need you a lot more than I do right now." He didn't like to play the Ralph card every time he found a situation dangerous, but it was his way to let her know he truly cares for the boy and would stop at nothing to make sure he has a bright future ahead of him. And Walter believed Paige was the key to that future he wants for the boy.

Paige sighed. He knew she wouldn't put herself first before her son just as he wouldn't either. "Fine. I'll go back to the suite if that'll make you happy."

"It would." Walter nodded.

"But if you die, Walter," Paige pulled him into a deep kiss, "I'll kill you myself."

"There's a 64% likelihood that neither of us will die tonight, so the odds are on our side." Walter replied and forced a laugh.

"But you're still not wanting to take any chances, are you." It wasn't a question. It was an astute observation.

"Not tonight." Walter said before Paige pulled him in for another kiss. She held onto him tightly as she poured her fiery soul into his mouth. When she pulled away, she told him she would give him an hour, and if she didn't hear from him or from Cabe by then, she was going to return without hesitation. Knowing that Paige wouldn't leave him until he approved of her what-if plan, he nodded, said, "Okay," and watched her as she left.

Once he was alone, he turned back towards the safe, inhaled a deep breath and turned the dial.

**~ SCORPION ~**

Paige didn't like the feeling in the pit of her stomach as she neared the stairway. She slowly dragged her feet across the floor and opted on returning, but she wasn't even sure she remembered how to get there. She placed one foot on the stairs in front of her, and that was when she heard the firing of a gunshot.

Her eyes widened with fear, and she scrambled to get back to the closet. "Walter!" Her ribcage pounded as panic consumed her. She needed to get back to him! She needed to know that he was okay – that the culprit was the one who was shot!

She found the hallway and stopped dead in her tracks. Cabe wasn't there, and neither was a body. The closet was open, though. And then she heard Cabe's voice calling out to Walter and telling him to hang in there. She froze in shock, and her breath hitched as memories of making love to Walter flooded through her mind.

Those were the last thoughts engraved into her mind when she felt a hard blow to the head.

And then everything went dark.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!

Oh, yes I did. ^_^

What do you think?! :)


	7. Chapter 7

**WriterFreak001:**

A reader requested more Quintis in this story, and while I did mention I would add a liiiiiiittle bit of Quintis in _Love Boat_ , I am mainly focusing on Waige because I have a strong feeling that the actual episode will be focused more on Quintis than Waige. Don't get me wrong, I _do_ ship Quintis, but I ship Waige a lot more. ;)

This chapter and most likely the next chapter will focus primarily on what's happening on the cruise. Quintis helping Ralph will be a little bit later seeing as it is still pretty early in the morning in this story. Q

Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you do what you actually came here to do.

Happy reading! XOXO

* * *

 **Title** | Love Boat

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

 **Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**Paige didn't like the feeling in the pit of her stomach as she neared the stairway. She slowly dragged her feet across the floor and opted on returning, but she wasn't even sure she remembered how to get there. She placed one foot on the stairs in front of her, and that was when she heard the firing of a gunshot.**

**Her eyes widened with fear, and she scrambled to get back to the closet. "Walter!" Her ribcage pounded as panic consumed her. She needed to get back to him! She needed to know that he was okay – that the culprit was the one who was shot!**

**She found the hallway and stopped dead in her tracks. Cabe wasn't there, and neither was a body. The closet was open, though. And then she heard Cabe's voice calling out to Walter and telling him to hang in there. She froze in shock, and her breath hitched as memories of making love to Walter flooded through her mind.**

**Those were the last thoughts engraved into her mind when she felt a hard blow to the head.**

**And then everything went dark.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 7**

**~ S** **CORPION ~**

Paige groaned in pain and felt a little disoriented. The back of her head was still throbbing from the blow she took earlier, and the pain made her not want to open her eyes. But as she heard powerful currents of water rushing beneath her, flashes of Walter from the last twenty-four hours started flooding into her mind.

_The flirting in the car…._

_The case briefing…._

_The argument on the plane…._

_The argument about the threshold…._

_Marriage 101…._

_Mingling…._

_The Cargo Hold…._

_Their first kiss in the Cargo Hold…._

_Their second kiss in the Jacuzzi…._

_The way she kissed him in the suite. How she pinned him onto the bed and kissed him senselessly. The way he touched her…. Caressed her…. Loved her…._

_His confession; her confession._

_The way they clung to each other in the shower as the hot water drummed against their bodies. How she shuddered against him again and again and again._

_She remembered the case – how they were late when meeting Cabe at the poop deck. How they snuck to the custodian's closet. How Walter begged her to leave for Ralph's sake._

_And then she remembered the sound of a shot ringing out from the corridor. She remembered running as fast as she could, praying that Walter was all right. She remembered Cabe's voice and how she froze in fear, unable to take a step further._

_Oh God, Walter!_

Her heart started to pound, and she started to hyperventilate. She kept her eyes shut because she was too afraid to open them. Too afraid because she didn't want to chance seeing her world falling apart in front of her. She had to believe he was alive. He just _had_ to be alive!

She tried calling out his name in hopes that he was near and would respond, but she couldn't hear her voice over the rushing water. She tried to move, but she was restrained; her body felt incredibly heavy as if she were sinking down to the bottom of the sea, and when she tried jerking her hips side to side, everything swayed around her as if she was lying in a hard canopy.

And when she finally opened her eyes, she screamed Walter's name.

**~ SCORPION ~**

_**Thirty Minutes Earlier….** _

Walter was ready for anything to happen once he opened the door to the safe. He knew the risks, and in order to keep Russia or any other country from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, he was willing to face those risks at all costs. He didn't like the fact that he sent Paige away, but he couldn't risk the possibility of Ralph growing up without his mother. In truth, Ralph _needed_ Paige more than Walter did. Paige was the key to helping Ralph meet his full potential because without Paige, Ralph would end up like the rest of Scorpion – withdrawn from society and insecure about everything.

If Paige _didn't_ have a son to care for, Walter didn't know if he would have done things differently. In his mind, Ralph was more important than anything to him, and he knew that Ralph needed his mother to help him learn how to associate with normals. It was a simple deduction; Walter did not question the premises nor the conclusion. He saw Ralph as his reason to send Paige away, but he knew his reasoning was much bigger than just the boy. So much bigger.

"Walter!" Cabe knocked on the door. "Perhaps I should open the door instead!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Walter retorted as he heard a click. "You're the brawns of this operation; if you're dead, we don't have an offence!"

"And if _you're_ dead, you smartass, the entire mission would be wasted! You're the only one capable of disabling those damn rockets!" Cabe snapped as he opened the door.

Walter sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Fine." He stepped away from the safe and made his way towards the door. "But if you get killed, don't say I didn't warn you."

"How thoughtful," Cabe rolled his eyes and took off his jacket. "When this is over and all three of us survive, remind me to have sound proof walls installed in the loft where your bedroom is located."

"A-and w-what gave you the impression that I _need_ sound proof walls?" Walter folded his arms in front of him to hide his discomfort from Cabe.

"Please," Cabe raised his eyebrow and gave Walter an unimpressed expression, "I may not be a genius, but I'm not an idiot. The two of you were _definitely_ not late because you forgot to set an alarm on your phone. You didn't think I would notice how wet your hairs were? Give me more credit, kid. I was once _your_ age too, you know."

"Just open the door so we can get this done and over with." Walter changed the subject and stepped outside into the hallway.

Cabe slowly opened the door and peeked inside. "Doesn't seem to have any sensors going off." He opened the door more. "No explosives either."

"Any trip wire?"

"None which I can see." Cabe said and then turned towards Walter. "I think we're good, kid."

Still something didn't seem right to Walter; opening the safe was too easy. "Make sure the CIA agents are at the ready."

Cabe nodded and pulled out his cellphone. He called one of the agents but frowned. "The lines dead."

"Call the other one."

Cabe did as instructed, but the results were the same. "You better disable those rockets ASAP; I think our case has been compromised."

"Move aside," Walter ordered Cabe. Cabe stood up and let Walter head for the safe. Walter knelt down, looked at the ceiling of the safe and released a sigh. "The sensor was on the top; she was probably alerted the moment I opened the door. Worst case scenario: she's taken down the CIA agents and is on her way here."

Cabe cursed. "Dammit!" He looked towards the hallway, "I hope, for Paige's sake, that she's made it back to the suite safely." As Walter reached back for one of the rockets, he pushed the door back further for better access. The next thing he knew, something ripped through his shoulder and sent him flying against the wall. He grunted from the pain as Cabe ran towards him. "What the hell happened?!"

Walter glanced over towards the safe and saw a gun sitting within what used to be a hidden compartment. He quickly replayed the scenario over in his head and realized that when he pushed the door further than a ninety degree angle, the hidden compartment had opened and a bullet was released from the pre-triggered gun. He pointed towards the safe and grumbled his analysis to Cabe as the agent grabbed his jacket and pressed it against the space just below Walter's collarbone. "Well, isn't _this_ just peachy?" Cabe muttered under his breath.

Walter felt like his entire arm was on fire and was losing feeling in the fingers of his left hand. "I'll be fine," he grumbled. "It's just a flesh wound."

"Flesh wound my ass!" Cabe snapped as he helped the genius sit up against the back wall. "You're lucky that bullet didn't pierce your damn heart!"

Walter was growing frustrated; there wasn't any time for arguing! "Get. The. Rockets." He inhaled a sharp breath. "You _need_ to disable them."

" _Me_?" Cabe balked. "I could risk blowing up this place!"

"Just trust me okay!" Walter hissed. "I'll guide you through the process." He clenched his teeth and bit back the pain, "There's a chance… Inna Mikhailov is on her way down here. _Those_ rockets _need_ to be dismantled and disabled before she gets here."

"Alright! Alright!" Cabe grabbed Walter's hand and said, "Apply as much pressure as you can to your wound." Walter felt dizzy and leaned his head against the wall. He knew he wasn't going to die – well, the odds of surviving a gunshot wound to the shoulder were 5 to 1. So the odds were in his favor, if anything. "Hey!" Cabe snapped him out of his thoughts, "Stay awake, kid! I can't do this without you, you know!"

"Why are you still talking?" Walter was losing his patience with the man. "Get. To. Those. Rockets!"

Cabe nodded and went back to the safe. He managed to remove the gun and disarmed it before tossing it towards Walter. "Hang in there, Walter!" The gun landed in Walter's lap and brought the dazed genius out of his stupor. "Know how to use a gun?"

"I can figure it out." Walter forced a painful laugh as he locked his fingers around the gun.

"Just don't miss your target. I'll be really pissed if you end up shooting _me_ instead." Cabe exclaimed as he placed all of the rockets on the floor. Walter instructed Cabe on how to dismantle them – he needed to do _something_ to keep him awake. The procedure was slower than usual because Walter had to pause a few times to regain his focus, but after five minutes of bickering and griping, Cabe was able to dismantle all of the rockets.

"In bag," Walter gritted his teeth, "there are wire shears."

"Cut the green wire. Got it." Cabe said as he grabbed Walter's bag and fished for the shears.

"No!" Walter groaned. "We're not in some stupid Hollywood film, Cabe! This is real life!"

"Then stop complaining and tell me what the hell you want me to do!"

"You _need_ to cut the blue wire." Walter closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.

"Are you sure?"

"YES! I've studied the design of these rockets, Cabe! Trust me!"

Cabe sighed and nodded. "All right. Just…stop barking, will ya?" Cabe did as Walter instructed and cut the blue wire of the first rocket. The monitor on the rocket shut off as Walter expected. "What about these other wires?"

"They're useless without the signal from the command center," Walter tried to stand up, but he was still feeling slightly dizzy from the gunshot wound. "The rockets," he swallowed the lump in his throat and inhaled a deep breath, "respond to a Wi-Fi signal from the command center – that is how they are activated and deactivated. But," he grunted, "when they were des -," Walter paused when he noticed Cabe wasn't disarming the other rockets. "I'll explain later! Cut the other blue wires!"

As Cabe proceeded to cut the other blue wires, Walter pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Paige's number. He needed to make sure she was safe. He placed the phone against his ear and waited for Paige to answer. But when the ringing stopped, it wasn't Paige's voice on the other line.

Walter's hands shook as he placed the phone on speaker. "Where is she?" Walter muttered through clenched teeth, catching Cabe's attention. All rockets had been disarmed and were no longer a threat.

" _Let me make something clear_ ," a female Russian voice muttered through the speaker, _"I have spent the last three years studying the design of those rockets, and I've helped build them. I will know if they have been tampered with. I will give you three minutes to figure out a way to fix those rockets if you have disarmed them in any way. I will be checking my iPad periodically to ensure that they are restored. And for every minute I wait, your female partner will be one minute closer to certain death. So those rockets better be fixed in three minutes time – starting now."_

"And if they're not?" Cabe inquired. Walter felt sick to his stomach. It was his fault that Paige was in this mess. He _needed_ to find a way to fix all of this. There had to be a way to solve this problem without fixing those rockets!

" _Then I guess you'll never see your female partner again."_

Walter put the phone on mute and tried to push himself to his feet again; this time, he managed to stand but had to lean against the wall for support. "Easy there, kid." Cabe walked over to him. "Surely there's a way to trick her into believing the rockets were fixed."

Walter's eyes widened. "Get me my Surface Pro 3!"

"Okay." Cabe nodded and raced over to Walter's bag. He pulled out Walter's tablet and handed it to Walter. Walter dropped Cabe's jacket and leaned against the wall as he placed his Surface Pro 3 on top of the shelf next to him.

It was nearly three in the morning, and only a handful of people would be on the Wi-Fi at a given time. As checked for anybody currently using a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, the woman on the other end of the line muttered, _"Two minutes left."_ He inhaled a deep breath but froze when he heard _her_ voice screaming his name in fear. Cabe took Walter's phone, ended the call and told him to concentrate like hell. Cabe found a first aid kit and used the wire shears to cut Walter's shirt off of him as he worked on hacking into Inna's (he assumed the woman on the other line was Inna) private wireless hotspot. Cabe dressed Walter's wound as best as he could.

"I'm in." Walter grumbled as he hacked into Inna's iPad and quickly sent an encryption to her screen which automatically restored the rockets' statuses on the program on her iPad. "There. That should buy us some time." Walter put his computer down and ordered Cabe to reassemble the rockets and put them back into the safe. Cabe did as he was told, and once everything was put back together, Walter said, "I've located Inna's wireless signal; it's coming from," he inhaled a sharp breath, "it's coming from the left side of the ship where the lifeboats are stored."

"Okay. You stay he –"

"No," Walter shook his head. "I'm fine," he lied. "Call to the captain and have him assemble a rescue team ASAP and be at the ready. Also, we need the captain to _stop_ this cruise in the event that Paige goes overboard." Walter leaned against the wall as he slowly walked towards the door. "I need you to go and find Paige." In the event that _he_ would be able to get there in time. The odds were not in his favor anymore; he recognized the fact that he had lost a lot of blood, and he was getting dizzier every minute. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it to Paige in time.

"Just what the hell are _you gonna do?"_

"Create a diversion." Walter lied. As much as _he_ wanted to be the one to save _her_ , Paige would have a better chance if Cabe was the one who went in his stead. "Now go!"

"You better not die on me, kid." Cabe frowned as he spun around and ran out the door.

Walter, however, slammed himself back against the wall and slid to the floor. The damage to his shoulder was worse than he thought, and he was beginning to think the bullet had nicked his subclavian artery. The bandage Cabe had given him was already soaked with blood. He opted to call Toby, but he didn't want to worry the rest of his team – most of all Ralph.

_Paige…._

His vision was blurring as he saw figures racing towards him. He couldn't make sense of what was going on, but he was being lifted into the air. He heard people shouting as the ceiling moved above him. Only one memory was engraved into his mind, and he fought long and hard to keep the memory of Paige sleeping in his arms from fading way.

But the longer he tried to hold onto that memory, the further he slipped away into a world of complete and utter darkness.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

Sorry for the cliffhanger! O_O

(side note: I promise, there will NOT be any major character deaths in ANY of my WAIGE stories.)

By the way, I am NOT by ANY means a technician. I have no idea if the wiring scenario stuff would actually happen in real life. I tried to research it, but well, I couldn't find much so I just made up a scenario that _could_ make sense.

Next chapter will be another WAIGE focus to tie in all of the loose ends in regards to the rocket case. Chapter 9 will focus more on Quintis and their plan to help Ralph. It will also have some WAIGE stuff too since this story is mainly a WAIGE story. Anyway, I soooo hope I can get this story done BEFORE Monday! XD

Let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**WriterFreak001:**

Nothing new. 

* * *

 **Title** | Love Boat

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

 **Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

" **You better not die on me, kid." Cabe frowned as he spun around and ran out the door.**

**Walter, however, slammed himself back against the wall and slid to the floor. The damage to his shoulder was worse than he thought, and he was beginning to think the bullet had nicked his subclavian artery. The bandage Cabe had given him was already soaked with blood. He opted to call Toby, but he didn't want to worry the rest of his team – most of all Ralph.**

_**Paige….** _

**His vision was blurring as he saw figures racing towards him. He couldn't make sense of what was going on, but he was being lifted into the air. He heard people shouting as the ceiling moved above him. Only one memory was engraved into his mind, and he fought long and hard to keep the memory of Paige sleeping in his arms from fading way.**

**But the longer he tried to hold onto that memory, the further he slipped away into a world of complete and utter darkness.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 8**

**~ S** **CORPION ~**

She screamed his name helplessly over and over again, hoping someone would hear her cries over the rustling water. When she had opened her eyes, she found herself strapped to the bottom of a lifeboat, staring into the dark, powerful, rushing currents of the ocean. The water seemed like it was getting closer and closer.

Her heart was beating faster than anything she had ever experienced, and fear consumed her entire being.

And in that moment of absolute terror, she wanted to die.

**~ SCORPION ~**

Cabe wasn't an idiot. He knew Walter was just trying to put on a good front when he sent him on his way to save Paige; as altruistic as that son of a bitch was, there was no way in hell he would have made it down the hallway with the seriousness of his wound. The moment Cabe called the captain and instructed him to assemble a rescue team and stop the ship's course, the agent also ordered the captain to send a medical team down to where Walter was. After the captain confirmed that all instructions were in action, Cabe could breathe easier, knowing Walter had a chance of surviving his wound.

As Cabe crept towards the lifeboat platform, he saw Inna Mikhailov slowly manning a lifeboat davit; Cabe had no doubt in his mind that the missing lifeboat was where Paige was being held captive. Cabe slowly walked into the moonlight with his gun at the ready and frowned, "It's over, Inna! Walk away peacefully!"

Inna stopped what she was doing, looked at Cabe and laughed. "Or, what? You'll shoot me?"

"Damn straight!" He took another step closer to her.

"No. You won't." She smirked. "As you already know, I am the closest link you filthy Americans have towards my father. You kill me, you risk another high-end terrorist attack on your beloved country. Now," she chuckled as she pulled out her gun and pointed it towards Cabe. "Is that what you want?"

"Is that what _you_ want?" Cabe turned the question around on Inna. He smirked when he saw her grin fall. "If you had wanted to piss off America, you would done so already and used the rockets to destroy this cruise. Over ninety percent of the passengers are Americans. You know what I think?" Cabe was taking a shot in the dark as he spoke. He was trying to stall time until the rescue team could be assembled to save Cabe. His phone would buzz once the team was in place. "I think you hate your father. You hate your father so much that you went to the very country your father hated in order to piss him off. I don't think you had any intention of stealing those rockets or leaving the states. The locket around your neck tells me you've got a significant other back in California who knows _nothing_ about what you're doing here. You fell in love and wanted to live a carefree life without your father looming over you. So what do you do? You devise a plan to use your tech smarts to infiltrate a national security company and steal those rockets once you had enough Intel on how to steal them without getting caught. I bet you want to use those rockets and destroy Daddy Dearest for good. How am I doin' so far?"

"You don't know anything about me!" Inna spat and kicked Cabe's firearm out of his hand before whirring around to kick him in the cheek. Cabe flew backwards and hit the wall. He pulled himself off of the ground and wiped the blood off of his lip.

"Something tells _me_ I struck a nerve," Cabe chuckled. "I wonder what Lover Boy would say if he found out what you were doing. Or maybe he _did_ find out; that would make him an accomplice."

"Shut up!" Inna shot at Cabe but missed. She shot at him again, but he dove out of the way and grabbed his gun off of the ground. He didn't hesitate to shoot. In seconds, she fell down and coddled her leg as he pushed himself back to his feet.

He walked over to her, picked up her gun and tossed it overboard. "Face it, Inna. You're going to prison. And so is your boy toy for helping you." Inna's eyes widened. "Oh? You didn't think we'd find out? Once my team figured out who you were, they managed to also find out you made frequent calls to Mr. Roger Hendricks, another worker on the team. When CIA and Homeland questioned him, he sold you out, Inna. He's gonna get him a deal with the DA; he might get five years tops, but you have so many charges against you, you'd be lucky to get out before you're fifty."

Inna spat at Cabe as she pulled out a dagger and slashed Cabe's leg with it.

"Son of a Bitch!" Cabe cursed as he gritted his teeth and fell backwards.

Inna forced herself upward and pushed a lever all the way up, shouting, "Das Vidanya!"

Cabe heard shrilling screams coming from below and acted quickly. Biting back the pain, Cabe grabbed his gun from the ground and shot Inna in the brain. She was dead before she hit the ground. Cabe grunted as he pushed himself to his feet and scrambled to the lever. He yanked it down as fast as he could; he heard the wire rope screeching to stop as the davit jerked them to a stop. He sighed and looked over the railing; he didn't see Paige, but he saw a lifeboat dangling a few feet above the water surface. He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping Paige was all right. He saw the rescue team in the water coming towards the lifeboat. He took out his phone and noticed two missed calls. He recalled the missed number and placed the phone to his ear. He saw one of the men on the rescue boat answer his phone.

"Do you see her?" Cabe inquired.

" _Negative."_ The man answered.

Cabe held his breath and closed his eyes. "Look again."

" _She might be inside the boat, but we won't know for sure until we get closer."_

"No. I know for damn sure she's somewhere outside the boat; I heard her screams as clear as day." Cabe prayed that Paige was all right. He knew that if Walter survived, he would never forgive Cabe for not saving her in time.

There was silence on the other line as they called for Paige.

There was no answer.

As the rescue boat slowly made its way towards the dangling life boat, Cabe heard nothing but silence, and he was growing agitated.

And then…

" _Agent Gallo, we've located Miss Dineen! She was strapped to the bottom of the lifeboat when we spotted her!"_

"How is she?"

" _She appears to be unconscious, and her head is bleeding. She must have smacked her head against the bottom of the boat when you stopped it from hitting the water. The medic onboard says the cut isn't too deep. She'll need stitches, but she will recover."_

"Thank God." Cabe muttered and sighed as he slid to the floor. "Once Paige Dineen is safely inside and treated, be sure that she wakes up in the same room as Walter O'Brien."

" _Will do_."

And then the line went dead. Cabe released another heavy sigh and then pushed himself to his feet. He looked over to Inna's body and noted to send a mortician up that way as he hobbled his way towards the hospital wing of the ship.

**~ SCORPION ~**

**A few hours later….**

Paige let out a short, painful scream and jerked forward as her eyes shot open to her surroundings. When she realized she wasn't where she thought she was, her heartbeat and breathing slowed down. It was _all_ a nightmare. That was what it was; that was what it _had_ to be.

And then when she turned, she saw Walter on the medical bed next to hers and realized that _nothing_ was a nightmare; everything that had happened to her was _very_ , _very_ real.

She kept her eyes on Walter, thinking that watching him sleep would help her relax. He was wearing a hospital gown and was in a deep sleep. Even her retching scream didn't wake him up. While he was hooked to several monitors, she wasn't. Her head was patched up, but aside from the pain at the back of her head and the burning sensation in her throat, she was physically fine.

Her mental status was another story.

Paige slipped from her bed and slowly walked over to Walter's, circling around to his right side. She gently placed her palms on his face and whispered his name into his ear. His eyes fluttered open as he inhaled a slow breath of air. As one of her hands lost itself within his dark curls, she wrapped her other hand around his fingers. He squeezed her fingers gently. As he started to say something, she cut him off and kissed him hard on the mouth, not wanting to hear his apologies. She had grown to know the sort of burden Walter carried; if something happened when he knew he could have prevented it, he would blame himself.

And she wanted him to know that she didn't blame anything on him. He couldn't have known how crazy Inna was. No one could have known. If anything, it was her fault and her fault alone. She knew what the risks were when she decided to help with the case, and it wasn't Walter's fault that she had chosen to be a part of a dangerous assignment. All she wanted to do was forget about the entire case and focus on the _only_ good thing that came out of the cruise trip.

"I love you," she muttered between kisses. "I love you so much." Paige pulled away slightly only to carefully crawl onto Walter's medical bed and gently hold him in her arms.

They shared one more deep, open-mouth kiss before another voice made his presence known. "All right, you two. Knock it off and get some sleep." Walter and Paige turned their heads slightly to find Cabe lying in a bed next to Walter's. "Boo!" Walter and Paige exchanged glances and then looked back at Cabe. "I know. I know. I like lookin' at me too, but seriously. Come on. Is _my_ face really that more interesting than the dirty things the two of you were about to do over there? I mean," Cabe chuckled, "I'm flattered, really, but the last thing _I_ want is for my pretty looks to be engraved in your minds every time you think about doing the nasty on this boat." Walter and Paige grimaced; Cabe only laughed. "I'm just teasin'," and then he frowned. "But seriously, no nasty stuff while I'm sleepin' in here too."

Paige rolled her eyes, and Walter simply turned away and closed his eyes. Paige gave him a quick kiss and then rested her head against the right side of his chest. She whispered good night and lightly hummed until she fell asleep.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

I know this chapter is relatively short, but I wanted to wrap that section of the story up. Think of Chapter 7 and 8 as two halves of the same chapter. I really suck at fight scenes sooooo sorry if it came across as rushed.


	9. Chapter 9

**WriterFreak001:**

I think I like this show a little too much. Heh. Heh. ^_^;

* * *

**WARNING:**

**Readers' Discretion is advised! (now you can't say I didn't warn ya!)**

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

 **Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**They shared one more deep, open-mouth kiss before another voice made his presence known. "All right, you two. Knock it off and get some sleep." Walter and Paige turned their heads slightly to find Cabe lying in a bed next to Walter's. "Boo!" Walter and Paige exchanged glances and then looked back at Cabe. "I know. I know. I like lookin' at me too, but seriously. Come on. Is** _**my** _ **face really that more interesting than the dirty things the two of you were about to do over there? I mean," Cabe chuckled, "I'm flattered, really, but the last thing** _**I** _ **want is for my pretty looks to be engraved in your minds every time you think about doing the nasty on this boat." Walter and Paige grimaced; Cabe only laughed. "I'm just teasin'," and then he frowned. "But seriously, no nasty stuff while I'm sleepin' in here too."**

**Paige rolled her eyes, and Walter simply turned away and closed his eyes. Paige gave him a quick kiss and then rested her head against the right side of his chest. She whispered good night and lightly hummed until she fell asleep.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 9**

**~ S** **CORPION ~**

"So," Walter caught Paige's attention as they slowly walked, hand-in-hand, along the deck of the Legacy Cruise for a bit of fresh air, "While you were sleeping this morning, Cabe told me what happened…."

"He did?" Paige gently leaned her head against Walter's right shoulder as they slowed to a stop and turned towards the water.

"Yeah." Walter pressed his lips together, not knowing what to say next. He wasn't very good with consoling speeches, and the last thing he wanted to do was say something tactless. So instead, he asked, "How's your head?"

"Sore," Paige answered, but it seemed as though her mind was somewhere else. Her voice was still hoarse from everything that had happened to her. "But it'll heal with time." The crack in her voice did not go unnoticed. "Come on," she muttered as she turned to meet his hardened gaze, "We need to get you to the suite; you're supposed to be resting. Doctor's orders, remember?"

"I feel fine," Walter forced a laugh but couldn't stop himself from wincing in pain in the process.

"Clearly," Paige chuckled lightly as she tugged him away from the railing. "The only reason the doctor let you out early is because I promised her I would make sure you received ample amounts of rest in the suite; I also told her I'd ensure you keep that sling on at all times too. No _matter_ how itchy it is."

Walter rolled his eyes. "What's the point of wearing it if I can't be comfortable with it on?"

"Trust me," Paige muttered as they descended a flight of stairs on the deck, "You're much more comfortable with it on than off."

"That's…probably…an accurate assumption." Walter mumbled as they made their way to the elevator. The rest of the way to the suite was comfortably silent between them, and both of them were grateful they didn't run into any of the people they've met on the cruise. The last thing they wanted to do was explain to these strangers why they were _really_ on the ship and how they received their injuries. Once the door to their suite was closed behind them, Paige placed Walter's bag on the couch seat and then guided Walter over to the bed. Walter tried to convince Paige that he was doing fine and didn't need the extra rest, but she pulled out the 'if you won't do it for you, then do it for me' card – a request he was _afraid_ to refuse.

Once he was in the bed, resting his upper body on as many pillows as Paige could find within the suite, he noticed how weary she was. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she didn't seem like her usual self. Even as she helped him into the bed, she seemed distant – like her mind was constantly on something else, and she was trying very hard not to stay away from it. He recognized the distance; it was the way he felt when he was tempted to go down the Rabbit Hole. Too many times, he had been drawn to the depths of the Rabbit Hole, and in order to stay out of it, he would often have to focus his mind on something else – at one point he had realized that avoiding the temptation became a lot easier once Paige and Ralph had entered his life. He wondered if there was anything _he_ could do for Paige so that she didn't lose herself too.

"Paige," Walter called out to her as she was busy picking up the place, "You need your rest too."

"I'm fine," she answered in a dry tone. Walter knew better. 'Fine' was a term he said when he _clearly_ was _anything_ but 'fine.'

"No you're not." He voiced his observation and cringed as he pushed himself forward and slid off of the bed.

"Walter, you should be resting." She said as she zipped up her luggage bag.

"So should you." Walter quickly answered as she rose to her feet. He scratched the back of his head and added, "You know I'm not very good with emotional speeches, so, um, I'm just going to say this," he caught her attention, "I can't _imagine_ what you must be going through right now. B-but w-whatever it i-is, um, whatever it is you're," he swallowed and closed his eyes for a second before continuing. "Whatever you m-might be g-going through," he looked towards the floor, "j-just, um, just know th-that," he finally met her eyes and reached down for her hand, "th-that I'm… th-that I'm here i-if y-you need, um, if you need anything."

Paige closed her eyes and gently raked her other hand through her hair. She inhaled a slow, deep breath, and gradually released it.

"Okay?" Walter inquired, wishing he hadn't said _anything_ when her bottom lip started quivering as she slowly nodded in response. She bit her lip as tears dripped down her cheeks. And before he could say anything to somehow comfort her, she wrapped her arms around his torso and sobbed loudly against his shirt. As his right arm slid around her shoulders, he didn't really know what else to do; he felt overwhelmingly awkward and a mixture of emotions he didn't particularly understand. All he knew was that Paige _needed_ his proximity as much as he _wanted_ hers. If letting her cry on his shoulder would help her cope with what she's been through, then he was willing to oblige her in any way he can.

For minutes they stood there without a single spoken word and eventually migrated to the bed where Paige rested against Walter's chest. Neither of them could sleep, though. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Paige finally spoke. Her voice was as dry as ever. "How do you do it, Walter?"

"Hm?" Walter looked down towards Paige; she was staring at the wall to his left.

"How are you able to face death and be fine the next day?" She spoke slowly as if she were in a daze she couldn't escape.

Walter's eyes scrolled up towards the ceiling. "It's…," he wasn't sure how to answer her query, "it's just how my brain works."

"Oh." Paige mumbled as she absentmindedly began unbuttoning his shirt. "I see."

"Is there, um, is there anything else I can do?" Walter tried to emulate Paige; whenever she had recognized that something was wrong with him, she would always offer her help in any way she could.

Paige stopped buttoning his shirt midway and splayed her palm over his stomach. "Just…," she finally met his eyes, "stay with me."

"Okay." Walter quietly answered. Paige leaned upward and gave him a short, chaste kiss before nestling her cheek against the right side of his collarbone.

Sooner or later, Paige fell asleep against Walter's chest, and after some serious mulling over the woman's future involvement in Scorpion, Walter eventually dozed off too.

**~ SCORPION ~**

**Meanwhile… in LA….**

While Agent Mueller dropped Ralph off at school, Toby started his plan in helping the boy capture his crush's attention during the Valentine's Day party at his school on Friday. In order to first help the boy, he needed to wait until the agent was gone because his first plan wasn't exactly legal – per se.

"So…," Happy raised her eyebrow as she circled around Toby's desk and peered over his shoulder. "In order to help Ralph, you're going to illegally hack into the school's database and profile the girl he has a crush on?"

"That's the plan. So far, at least." Toby smirked as he hacked into the database. "Besides, when has hacking ever been legal?"

"Touché." Happy shrugged.

"My only other option was to go to Ralph's school and get a read on the girl while she's playing on the playground." Toby said as he tapped on his computer. "The last thing I want is to be pegged as some pedophile."

"And you think looking up her information is any better?" Happy laughed as she straightened up and headed for her desk. "Don't bother mentioning my name if the feds find you; schools are crazy paranoid these days. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some sort of special firewall to catch creeps when they try hacking information from the database."

"Don't worry, Happy," Toby cracked his knuckles. "I'm covering my tracks."

"If you say so," she chuckled and shook her head in dismay. "While _you're_ going all creep mode, I'll see what I can find on her Facebook profile." She sat down at her desk as Toby gave her an amusing look.

"Happy! You're a genius!"

"That's what I've been told," Happy shrugged.

"You know, if there wasn't this large elephant in the room right now, I'd so kiss you right now!" Toby exclaimed as he twirled his hat along his finger.

"Please don't." Happy deadpanned. "I was just using my common sense. Nothing to celebrate about."

"Okay. So, age restrictions say you have to be 13 to be on social media, what little preteen girl _doesn't_ lie about her age and share her little secrets all over the internet?" Toby smirked and started typing away. "I'll see if she has an Instagram."

"Well, based on reading her last three Facebook posts, she clearly has the hots for a boy in her class. Claims she's depressed that he doesn't have a Facebook. She also wishes she could talk to him more, but he doesn't talk a lot in class and is super smart." Happy continued reading. "Wow. I've…I've gotta stop reading these before my head spins."

"Why's that?" Toby inquired.

"Her grammar is horrible, for one. She also says 'like' in every freakin' sentence and complains a lot." Happy grimaced. "Normals are weird."

"Happy. She's ten." Toby laughed. "She sounds like every normal ten-year-old girl out there."

"A curse, I am sure." Happy blinked. "Like you said; she's ten, and she's letting this boy she likes control her life. And I quote: 'He's quiet so I'll be quiet in class too. He's very good at math; I hate math, but I will learn to like it to get him to notice me.' Who the hell writes that way?"

"A ten-year-old girl who apparently has the hots for Ralph, perhaps?" Toby shrugged and laughed. "She basically _spells_ it out for us! Ralph is both quiet and loves math! So whatever she's doing to get him to notice her is working."

Happy frowned. "Hopefully he sees past her façade; otherwise, it's just a fantasy."

Toby couldn't help but laugh. He walked over to Happy's desk and folded his arms in front of him. "They are still in elementary school, Happy. Ralph may like this girl, and this girl may like Ralph, but neither of them would know love even if it smacked both of them in the face!" He couldn't control his laughter. "I mean, so what if she wants to get his attention? It isn't a crime to adapt."

"It is if it's to impress a guy." Happy frowned.

"Oh really," Toby raised an eyebrow. "So, if I asked you out on a date and took you to a Monster Truck event simply because I know _you_ enjoy Monster Trucks even when I can think of other things to make use of our time together, you'd think I'm pathetic for trying to impress you?"

Happy gulped. "That's different."

"How so?"

"It just is."

"That's not an answer." Toby chuckled.

"It's the only one you're getting."

"You want to know what I think?" Toby raised his eyebrow. Happy didn't look at him. "I think you have a hard time accepting the fact that _some_ people would go the extra mile to impress the ones they like. Take Walter and Paige for example. Just three weeks ago, Walter was going on and on and on about how love didn't exist, and just last night, we find out that he and the future _Mrs_. were _more_ than just sharing a suite together."

"So?" Happy frowned. "They _could_ just be sleeping together. You know, like 'friends with benefits.' That sort of thing."

"I highly doubt it." Toby laughed. "Paige is a woman who believes in love; she made that pretty clear on several occasions. I hardly believe she would commit to a sexual relationship unless feelings were mutual on both ends. It's clear that Walter adores her son and not to say I was eavesdropping, but I _did_ hear him confess to Paige that he cared for both her and Ralph. And this is _Walter_ we're talking about here. The guy has an emotional radar the size of a piece of lead – maybe not even _that_. In any case, something _happened_ on that love boat. Something big enough for Walter to come to some understanding of love. Trust me on this, Paige isn't one to give out freebies. But, enough about the future Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien," Happy rolled her eyes at his silly comment, "my main point is that Walter is somehow hurdling over his emotional barriers. If _he_ can do it; so can _another_ genius I know."

"There is _no_ way I'd change for _any_ guy." Happy challenged. "I'm glad Walt is willing to change his opinions on life because of Paige's influence, but I'm not Walt. And I'm not Paige."

"I didn't say you were." Toby's eyes softened.

"I control _me_. No one else does, and nobody will." Happy folded her arms in front of her as if she was trying to guard her heart. Toby realized that scars ran deep with Happy Quinn, and she wasn't going to be an easy woman to flatter. He knew Happy could take care of herself so he wasn't going to offer any sort of protection to ease her tension.

"Dually noted." Toby patted Happy's shoulder.

"Don't touch me."

"Right." Toby withdrew his hand and folded his arms in front of him. "So…, to kill some time, let's go and get some ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Happy raised her eyebrow. "Why?"

"Nothing cures matters of the heart more than a Double Fudge Chocolate Sundae." Toby stretched his arms in the air. He put his hat on his head and headed for the door. "Come on; it'll be fun. Besides, I think we've got all we need to know about Ralph's crush so we can kill two birds with one stone and talk about our plan while we enjoy the soothing powers of frozen butterfat and eggs."

Happy sighed. "Well, when you say it _that_ way…."

As she circled around her desk, Sylvester came walking down the stairs. "Oh! Where're you two going?"

"To get some ice cream. Wanna come?" Toby inquired. He'd feel bad if he and Happy went to get some ice cream without their friend – especially since ice cream was Sly's favorite dessert.

"Sure!" Sylvester smiled. "Let me go get some Germ-X first!"

"Sure thing, buddy," Toby laughed. "Sure thing."

As Sylvester walked over to his desk, Toby muttered. "Scratch the planning; we'll just have to wait til later."

"We _could_ just let Sly in on it."

Toby shrugged. "I guess we can do that too."

And when Sylvester walked up to Toby and Happy, they left the garage and went out for some ice cream, not caring to wait for Agent Mueller to return.

**~ SCORPION ~**

By the middle of the afternoon, Paige's spirits had somewhat returned, and she told Walter she wanted to make the most out their first (and most likely last) cruise experience while they still had a few days left. However, she made it _very_ clear she was in no hurry to leave the suite anytime soon. For a late lunch, they had room service deliver gourmet meals, and the moment they were done eating, Paige pulled Walter to an area of the suite they hadn't had time to explore and found a private hot tub on the other side of the bathroom.

"Doctor Rosenberg said you can't get your stitches wet until 48 hours have passed since your surgery," Paige said as she slowly unbuttoned his shirt, "so as long as you don't submerge your wound into the water, you should be fine in the hot tub." She first turned to turn on the water and then helped him remove his shirt from his shoulders before loosening his sling. "She also said you can take the sling off for periods of time to keep the blood circulating in your arm as long as you don't lift your arm outward and stretch out your stitches."

Walter rotated his wrist around in small circles. After she helped him out of the rest of his clothes, he carefully stepped into the circular hot tub and turned on the motors after turning off the faucet. Minutes later, Paige joined him and straddled his hips, curling her legs around his waist. While his palms rested on her sides, she carefully hooked her arms around his neck and avoided touching his wound in the process. Paige gently pressed her lips against his and charmed him into a slow, open-mouth kiss. Her palms traveled from his neck to his cheeks as the kiss deepened. Walter absentmindedly cupped her backside and pulled her closer to him, while the woman in his arms moaned into his mouth in response to his sudden forward behavior.

Sometime later, they were lounging in the hot tub where Paige was sitting sideways on his lap and was leaning against the right side of his chest. While her arms were lazily wrapped around his torso, his right palm cupped her shoulder, and his left hand rested on top of her arm. For minutes, they enjoyed the comforting silence, but there was something on Walter's mind that he needed to address. After everything that had happened to Paige, he didn't know where she stood as far as Scorpion went. And perhaps he should give her more time to mull it over, but when she caught him deep in thought, he knew he couldn't avoid the subject any longer.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it." Paige muttered and then planted a soft kiss on his shoulder. It wasn't a question; it was an astute observation.

"Yeah. Kinda," Walter replied and inhaled a slow breath. It was painful to breathe deeply so he had to make do with what was comfortable.

"What's wrong?"

Walter swallowed the lump in his throat and could feel Paige staring at him as she quietly searched for answers. He didn't understand why he still found it difficult to verbalize his feelings with Paige; after everything they've done on a romantic level, he assumed he'd be more comfortable confiding in her, but even as they lay naked in each other's arms, it was still hard for him to reveal what he was feeling. "I, um, I just…," he met her gaze, "I'd understand i-if y-you need, um, if you need some t-time, um," he gulped, "some t-time a-away fr-from Scorpion."

He looked away from her and stared beyond the large window overlooking the sea. She muttered his name softly, causing him to look into her eyes again, and he awaited her response. "I can assure you," she twisted her body around and straddled against him again as she carefully hooked her arms around his neck and lost her fingers within his hair, "I do not need any time away from Scorpion."

"I-if you're just saying that because of Ral –"

"No," she pressed her finger against his lips, "I'm not. I am perfectly aware that if I _did_ need some time off from work, my sabbatical wouldn't stop Ralph from coming to the garage before and after school. So he's not the reason. At least not completely."

"I'm confused." Walter lifted an eyebrow.

Paige let out a spirited laugh and pulled him into a hungry, succulent kiss. "Am I the reason?" He inquired. "Because if –"

"Walter," she covered his mouth with her palm, "just let me speak, okay?" He nodded in response so she removed her palm from his lips placed it on his bare shoulder. "I don't need a break from Scorpion because – despite _us_ – the garage is where _I_ feel most at home. Before Ralph and I met all of you, we didn't really have what you would call a family. I mean, yes, we had each other, but at the time, Drew was out of the picture, and I don't have the greatest relationship with my parents." Her fingers rubbed his head behind his ears as he continued to listen to her mellifluous voice. "Scorpion, Walter," she smiled, " _is_ my family – and Ralph's family. And I don't need a break from my family or _anything_ my family does on a day-t0-day basis."

Before Walter could shake himself out of his reverie from listening to Paige's melodious voice, Paige pushed her belly against his and kissed him senselessly. Life was certainly going to be interesting once they returned to Los Angeles, but if the woman in his arms was willing to try and make things work between them, then he was too.

**~ SCORPION ~**

"All right," Toby said to Ralph as the boy walked into the garage with Agent Mueller in tow. "Operation L'amour is in action." He took Ralph's hand and guided him over to his mother's desk. "Okay, so after a little bit of digging, we've determined that little Miss _Sophie Davenport_ is totally into you, R-man."

"Really?" Ralph did not seem convinced.

"Well, we _think_ she likes you." Toby corrected himself. "Technically speaking, she never said a name, but after Happy hacked into her Facebook account, which, by the way, you didn't hear it from me, Miss Davenport said she had a crush on a boy in her class who is often quiet, is really good at mathematics and doesn't have a Facebook. Now who do _we_ know is like that?"

When the boy put two and two together, he started to freeze up. Toby laughed at the remarkable resemblance between Walter and Ralph and their awkward behavior with women / girls.

"You keep that up, and you'll scare him from going to school on Friday." Happy laughed as she walked up to Toby and Ralph.

"You really shouldn't get his hopes up, guys," Sylvester said as he joined in on the conversation. "I mean, what if you're totally wrong and that girl thinks he's nothing but a dweeb?" Toby, Ralph and Happy looked at Sylvester. Sylvester's eyes widened, and he covered his mouth. "Oh dear! That was highly inappropriate. My apologies Ralph! I wasn't thinking!"

"You never do." Toby rolled his eyes and looked at Happy, muttering, " _That's_ why I didn't want to include Sly in on the operation."

"Whoops." Happy shrugged. "Anyway, Sly's right to a degree. Like I said before, your assessment of women sucks. Just because she seems to be describing Ralph, it doesn't mean she's talking about him. So, in my opinion, Ralph needs to be prepared for the absolute worst."

Toby faked a laugh and patted Ralph's shoulders. "Sly and Happy are such kidders!" He glared at his two friends and then ruffled Ralph's hair. "They're behind you all the way, man. Just like me. We're your number one supporters." Then Toby continued to inform Ralph on the plan. "What you need to know, Ralph is that it's important to do all of the right things in order to get Sophie to notice you – at least notice that you notice her. Makes sense?"

"I guess," Ralph shrugged.

"Cool." Toby grinned. "So what _you_ need to do is make Sophie feel like one special dame," Toby looked at Happy and continued, "because even if she seems like she's not that into you at the beginning, _which is_ a small possibility, she might just see how hard you're trying to make her realize how much you actually love her."

Happy looked away as Toby redirected his attention to Ralph. "Um," the boy spoke softly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't _love_ Sophie. I, um, I just th-think she h-has good, um, good aesthetic quality to her complexion."

"Oh, I know." Toby nodded. "First it's the looks…then it's the personality…and then, someday, you'll find out just how much you really want to k –"

Sylvester cleared his throat and muttered, "Ixnay on the issingkay!"

Toby faked a cough. "Aaaaanywaaaaay, what matters right now is that you think she's cute. So…. Let's focus on that." Toby reached over and grabbed a packet of Valentine's Day cards. "I think you guys do that thing these days where you're obligated to give every class member a Disney-approved V-Day card, right?"

"I think." Ralph shrugged. "I don't really know."

"Well, that's what _Julie_ at Walmart told me so I'm just going to go with what she says." Toby opened the packet of cards. "I bought the least grotesque ones of the bunch. Hope you like robots because it was either that or characters from that overdone movie, _Frozen_."

"Okay." Ralph nodded.

"So, I was instructed to tell you to sign your name on each of the cards. If you don't really care which ones go where, just leave the addressee blank; then, when you get to Sophie's card, write a little heartfelt message. Chicks dig that." Toby smirked.

"Um…, maybe this was a bad idea." Ralph gulped.

Toby hummed to himself for a minute. "Perhaps we might need to let another trooper in on the magic and see what she thinks about all of this."

"Who?" Happy, Sylvester and Ralph inquired in unison.

Toby looked at Ralph. "Your mom."

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

I hope all the QUINTIS fans liked this chapter. I personally think Happy has some personal issues she needs to sort through before doing anything romantic with Toby so I don't know if I'll go as far as what the episode on Monday will do, but I'll at least recognize that there's something going on between them. :)

As you can tell, I ship WAIGE a lot more than QUINTIS.

Let me know what you think! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**WriterFreak001:**

Nothing new. 

* * *

 **Title** | Love Boat

 **Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

 **Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

 **Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

 **POV** | Limited Third Person

 **Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

 **Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

" **So, I was instructed to tell you to sign your name on each of the cards. If you don't really care which ones go where, just leave the addressee blank; then, when you get to Sophie's card, write a little heartfelt message. Chicks dig that." Toby smirked.**

" **Um…, maybe this was a bad idea." Ralph gulped.**

**Toby hummed to himself for a minute. "Perhaps we might need to let another trooper in on the magic and see what she thinks about all of this."**

" **Who?" Happy, Sylvester and Ralph inquired in unison.**

**Toby looked at Ralph. "Your mom."**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 10**

**~ S** **CORPION ~**

Since Walter was more mobile by dinner time and because the pain medication was finally kicking in, Doctor Rosenberg approved to let him join the festivities of the cruise as long as Paige agreed to keep a sharp eye on him and make sure he wouldn't do anything reckless. As they were cleaning up from their mini hot tub excursion, Cabe had called and invited them to join him for dinner at one of the more casual restaurants on the cruise. Walter was grateful that he didn't have to dress up again because it would have been quite the nuisance trying to pull his arm through a tuxedo jacket. While it was painful to pull on _any_ kind of shirt, he had discovered that it was more tolerable to slip his arm through a short sleeve than anything else.

After Paige helped him dress for the evening in khaki shorts, a white T-shirt, an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt (something he found at the bottom of his closet that he thought he would never wear again) and simple, leather sandals, she, too, dressed in something more casual: a denim skirt that fell to her knees, a white, sleeveless halter-top blouse and a stylish pair of white beach sandals. While Walter waited for Paige to finish getting ready in the bathroom (something to do with applying makeup, putting on jewelry and styling her hair), he fiddled with his computer and worked on some unfinished algorithms.

"So what do you think Toby, Happy, Sylvester and Ralph are up to?" Paige asked as she walked out of the bathroom. He glanced up at her from his computer and studied her subtle but stunning features. Her hair had been straightened and was framing her face, her makeup was enhancing her natural beauty and the jewelry she was wearing was an overall bonus in Walter's mind. He never really understand _why_ women sought to wear jewelry, makeup or style their hair, but as Paige walked towards him, he had a new appreciation for the end results.

"If I had my guess," Walter said as he closed his computer, "they're probably working on individual projects; it's easy to resort to individuality when there's no cases to work on." He carefully rose to his feet as Paige bent down to pick up her purse. "But whatever they're doing, I'm sure they're fine."

"I sure hope so." Paige sighed as she hooked her arm around his. "Hungry?"

"Starving." Walter subtly patted his stomach, causing Paige to laugh as they walked out of their suite. They slowly made their way to the restaurant and found Cabe already waiting for them at a table.

As they approached him, he smirked. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say the two of you are glowing."

"People don't glow." Walter deadpanned as he and Paige sat down at the table just outside the casual restaurant. It was just like Cabe to want to eat outdoors instead of in.

Paige leaned towards his ear and whispered, "It was a compliment, Walter;" her laugh sent shivers down his spine, "what Cabe was saying was that we look happy." She squeezed his fingers gently and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Oh." Walter muttered as he tried to make sense of Cabe's statement. "I still don't get it."

"That's okay," Paige laughed. "You don't have to."

"You may be a genius, Walter, but your lack of common sense astounds me sometimes." Cabe chuckled and then took a sip of his water.

Walter rolled his eyes and faked a laugh. "I don't _need_ common sense. I have one of the top five rarest minds in the entire world."

"Rare is certainly an understatement," Cabe smirked.

"And yet," Paige's soft voice hummed into Walter's ear, "I find rarity a _very_ attractive quality." Walter gulped, and his ears reddened as Paige continued to quietly whisper _all_ of the things she found attractive about him. And it was a rather _provocative_ list of observations and qualities which Walter hoped Cabe couldn't hear.

"All right," Cabe finally cleared his throat, "don't make me come and separate the two of you." Paige laughed and softly pressed her lips against Walter's cheek. She dabbed her napkin in her water and gently rubbed off the red lip print she had left on his face. After they ordered their food, Paige left for the restroom, and Walter couldn't help but watch her as she walked away. Cabe cleared his throat and captured his attention again. "So. You and Paige, huh?"

Walter tried to hide the smile forming on his lips as he thought about the implication of Cabe's statement. "Don't seem logical, does it?"

"Kid," Cabe laughed, "There ain't nuthin' logical about love."

"You're telling me." Walter replied and took a sip of his water.

"Most of the time, Walter, whether you believe in it or you don't, love blindsides you; you may live your life believing one thing about love for years, and them BAM! Your entire perception of it changes, and you have _no_ control over it." Cabe said, stretching his arms. "Love can be a scary thing, kid. It not only makes you vulnerable, but it could impair your judgment."

"I'm beginning to see that." Walter replied, remembering everything that had happened in the last few days; not only did these strong feelings he held for Paige impair his judgment, but they also – and mortifyingly so – confused him on so many levels. They still did at times, but he was grateful that one thing was clear: Paige wasn't giving him _any_ mixed signals anymore.

"Good." Cabe grinned. "Don't let the vulnerability scare you away, though." Cabe warned and paused as the waitress delivered their toasted ravioli appetizer. When she left, he continued, "Take it from a guy who knows one or two things about love; it may seem irrational at times, and you and Paige might get in a few arguments here and there about silly things. There might even be a time when you'll consider terminating your relationship with Paige in order to keep her safe. Whatever the future holds, kid, don't make the same mistake I did and hide from your relationship simply because you don't want to face certain problems. Just remember, if you're truly adamant about maintaining a relationship with Paige, you've gotta cut the one-man-show crap. You hearing me, Walter?"

Walter nodded in response.

"Good." Cabe's eyes softened. Walter's eyes were locked in on Paige as she slowly approached their table. Cabe turned around, smiled and then faced Walter again. "Love may seem like a scary thing, kid, but it's also a damn good thing too."

"Mhmmm." Walter answered quietly even though his attention was fixated on Paige Dineen as she circled around him and sat back down in her seat. The ghostly feeling of her fingers trailing his shoulders as she passed him was certainly not unnoticed.

"I should go away more often," Paige laughed as she reached for a toasted ravioli and dipped it into the marinara sauce. "Mmmm…. That's goooood," she mumbled as she munched on the appetizer. "You guys should try some."

"Don't mind if I do." Cabe said as he dug into the toasted ravioli too.

"Want one, Walter?" Paige asked, placing two of them onto her little plate. She poured a small amount of the marinara sauce next to them.

"No. Thank. You." Walter shook his head. "Toasted pasta hardly sounds appetizing."

"Have you ever tried it before?" Paige raised an eyebrow and then dipped one of her raviolis into the sauce on her plate.

"No. And I don't really want to." Walter pressed his lips together and sipped his water. After Paige ate most of her ravioli, she dipped it into the sauce again and hovered it in front of his face. "Wha—" The next thing Walter knew, Paige plopped the remnants of her appetizer into his mouth; Cabe hooted with laughter. Without thinking, he chewed on the breaded, stuffed noodle and swallowed it.

"See? It wasn't so bad, was it?" Paige chuckled and then dabbed her lips with her napkin.

"It was," Walter refused to admit that he actually found the appetizer quite delectable, " _all_ right."

"Well aren't _you_ two just adorable," Cabe chuckled and ate another ravioli. "So…," Cabe wiped his mouth with his napkin and leaned over the table with his elbows propped up along the smooth surface, "Now that you two are _involved_ , are the two of you planning on keeping your newfound relationship a secret from the rest of the team?"

"Too late for that," Paige faked a laugh. "They already know."

"Oh? How so?" Cabe's eyebrows lifted as the waitress came by and picked up their dirty dishes.

"Ummm," Paige blushed as Walter scratched the back of his head, "Let's just say Toby was quick to figure it out."

"How'd he manage to do that?" Cabe was obviously having way too much fun. "Wait. Don't tell me. I don't think I want to know."

"That's…," Walter cleared his throat and glanced at a pink-cheeked Paige before turning back to Cabe, "probably a wise decision."

Before another word was spoken, the waitress came by and asked for their orders. Shortly afterwards, Paige's cell phone casually hummed a classical tune Walter didn't recognize. She reached into her purse, pulled out her phone and lightly chuckled. "Speak of the devil," she muttered, slid off of her chair and walked off to a bench for a little bit of privacy. Curious, Walter followed and sat down next to her as she answered the phone. "What now, Toby?" She held the phone between their ears so Walter could be in on the conversation as well.

" _First off, before I continue, are you and Walt in a compromising position? Because the_ _ **last**_ _thing I would ever want in the world is to talk with the two you on the phone while you're in the middle of making_ _ **beautiful**_ _genius babies that could very well scar little Ralph's_ _ **oh**_ _-so-delicate mind and ruin Sylvester's sensitive retinas."_ Toby spoke lively and quickly with a hint of a chuckle at the end.

"No. We're out having dinner with Cabe. Get to the point, Toby." Paige closed her eyes and released a long sigh.

" _Aye aye, mon Capitan!"_ Toby exclaimed. _"Okay, now that I've got all of_ _ **that**_ _out of my system, I'm going to put the two of you on speaker. Now be mindful – since I can't tell if you're lying from thousands of miles at sea, there is an_ _ **innocent**_ _in the room with us."_

" _He was in the warehouse with us the_ _ **last**_ _time you called, Doc."_ Happy jumped into the conversation.

" _Oh who cares about particulars. I was_ _ **just**_ _trying_ _ **Toby Curtis**_ _. Ooooh! That's a gooood one!"_ Toby shouted with excitement. _"Get it?! Toby Curtis –_ _ **to be courteous**_ _. I've_ _ **gotta**_ _use that in the future!"_

"Toby!" Walter snapped; he could tell Paige was growing impatient, and he was as well. "Get on with it."

" _Jeez, this cruise has ruined you."_ Toby responded, sighed and then continued. _"Okay, so the reason I called is_ _ **not**_ _because of me; it's actually about Ralph."_

"Is he okay?" Paige's voice showed concern. Walter, too, hoped nothing was wrong with the boy.

" _I'm fine, Mom."_ Ralph's soft voice came through the speaker.

Paige sighed with relief. "If Ralph's fine, then I'm a little confused as to why you are calling, Toby." Walter was grateful that Paige was just as baffled as he was because he wasn't able to see Toby's intent either.

" _Ralph, here,"_ Toby chuckled, _"needs some advice from Mama Dearest."_

"Oh?" Paige smiled. "For what?"

" _While you and Mr. 197 have been having the time of your lives on that love boat you're aliases are honeymooning on – or is it_ _ **your**_ _honeymoon now?"_ Toby snickered.

" _Get to the point, dumbass!"_ Happy barked from the other side of the line.

" _Yes ma'am,"_ Walter and Paige heard the behaviorist gulp over the speaker, _"Anyway, as I was saying, while Cabe and the two of you are over there right now, the_ _ **more**_ _important members of Scorpion have been trying to help Ralph with a particular problem."_

"Is it mathematical?" Walter inquired.

" _Nooooo."_ Toby's voice faded. _"Actually… it's an EQ dilemma."_

"An EQ dilemma?" Both Walter and Paige replied in unison.

" _Give me that! You're wasting their time!"_ Happy exclaimed and then started talking onto the phone. _"So that everything makes sense, I'm just going to start from the beginning. Yesterday, Ralph was hoping to gather some Intel from you, Walt, on how to impress a girl since he's noticed you've been having some luck with his mother on the subject."_

"Me?" Walter blinked. He was touched, truly, but….

" _Don't sound too surprised, Walt,"_ Happy replied, _"Even though you're the last person on the face of the Earth from whom Ralph should acquire such advice, I can see why he'd want your thoughts on the matter. The two of you are practically brain twins so it would only make sense for him to look up to you."_

" _Why are you so nice to Walter, but you can't stand being nice to me?"_ Toby asked Happy from a distance. Paige chuckled while Walter was still on the fact that Ralph had wanted advice from _him_ of all people.

" _You're an acquired taste,"_ Happy deadpanned.

Toby chuckled. _"One day, you just might be saying that with a totally different context."_

" _You're disgusting."_ Happy faked a gag.

"Guys, please. Keep your dirty banter to yourselves! Be considerate of my kid!" Paige pinched her nose. "Just _someone_ get to the point! Please!"

" _Hi. Paige?"_ Sylvester spoke up as Toby and Happy continued bickering in the background. _"I'm sorry for all of this. Basically, Ralph's Valentine's Day party is coming up on Friday. Toby's already bought him some of those class-wide, Disney-approved Valentine's Day cards for his party so you have nothing to worry about in that regard."_

"If Toby bought them, I'm terrified…." Paige muttered.

" _They're actually not too shabby. Anyway, we've been trying to come up of ways –"_

" _What do you mean 'we,' Sly?!"_ Toby shouted from a distance. _"Happy and I only let you in on the operation a few hours ago!"_

" _As I was saying,"_ Sylvester continued, _"Ralph wants this one girl to notice his existence so we are all trying to help him. If it's any consolation to you, Miss Sophie Davenport's Facebook profile clearly states she has a crush on someone fitting Ralph's description quite well."_

Paige covered her mouth to stifle her laughter; Walter, however, was quite impressed with his team for hacking into this girl's profile page. He would have most likely done the same thing to see if this girl was even worth Ralph's time.

"Ralph, honey," Paige recovered from her fits of laughter and spoke into the phone.

" _Yes, Mom?"_

"On a scale of one to ten, how much do you like this girl?" Paige asked.

" _Maybe a four or a five."_

"So you like her because she's cute?"

" _I guess."_

"You want some advice, Ralph?" Paige let out a small laugh. Walter, too, was curious as to what Paige was planning on saying.

" _Sure."_

"Okay," Paige smiled. "Don't put any message on Sophie's card. Simply sign your name on all of the cards; you don't really need to personalize it."

" _Toby said to write a message on her card."_ Ralph uttered.

"Don't listen to Toby. Remember, all of the cards look the same; it would be _very_ easy to drop Sophie's card into the wrong bag. You don't want that to happen. So, just sign your name on all of the cards and drop them into your classmates' Valentine's Day bags when you get to school on Friday. Okay?"

" _Okay. So how do I get her to say hi?"_

"You really want to know?" Paige smiled as they saw the waitress delivering their food.

" _I guess."_

" _Sound more confident, Ralph!"_ Toby bellowed with excitement.

"Don't listen to Toby. You'll be fine." Paige lowered her voice as people walked by them. "If you really want her to talk to you on Friday, wait until _after_ the party, and at the last possible moment, as she's leaving for home, casually walk up to her and tell her to have a good weekend. Okay?"

"Easier said than done." Walter muttered under his breath, receiving a jolt to his right arm from Paige's elbow.

"Trust me, honey," Paige's grin grew wider. "Greetings and farewells go a long way." Walter's ears perked as he remembered the time when she had forced him to greet her as she walked into the garage; now, it was a force of habit – just another tidbit that made him a better person altogether. "You'll be fine. It's only been one day, and we have one more day on this cruise before we fly back to LA. I'll be home before Friday so if you want to talk some more, we can talk then, okay, Ralph?"

" _Okay."_ Ralph's mood was a little more chipper.

"Good. Now, Walter and I need to go so our food doesn't get cold. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call. I'll answer every time."

" _Is that directed to Ralph or to all of us?"_ Toby inquired with a teasing tone. _"Because if I remember correctly…,_ " Toby didn't get to finish his statement. All they heard was his muffled voice and assumed either Happy or Sylvester covered his mouth.

" _You two have a lovely time!"_ Sylvester exclaimed.

" _Bye Mom. Bye Walter."_ Ralph spoke softly.

"Bye honey," Paige whispered.

"Bye buddy." Walter mimicked Paige's tone.

" _YUCK!"_ Happy suddenly shouted. _"I can't believe you just licked my hand!"_

" _You were clogging up my nose!"_ Toby inhaled a deep breath, _"I had to do_ _ **something!**_ _Would you have preferred I bit you instead?!"_

Hearing enough, Paige ended the call and put her phone back into her purse. "Let's go back to the table. I'm starving."

"Don't have to tell _me_ twice." Walter said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the table. Dinner, for the most part, was pleasant. Cabe did, however, force Walter and Paige to explain what the call was all about. Both Walter and Paige silently agreed to keep most of Toby's comments to themselves and divulged on the rest of the conversation. They spent an hour or so after dinner talking about different things, and eventually, Cabe called it a night and headed for his personal quarters.

Walter and Paige, however, languorously strolled along the deck of the ship. When they reached the bow of the cruise, they spent long, silent moments staring at the night sky. They shared a few kisses every now and then, but the primary of their focus was on the stars.

Paige's left arm was hooked around his right as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "You know," Paige spoke softly, "I think your logic is flawed."

"What logic?" Walter met her gaze and lifted an eyebrow.

"Last night, you said you only believe in what you see, correct?"

"Yes. I said that." Walter nodded. He thought he had already shared his revelation on the concept of 'love' with her. What could she be getting at this time? "If this is regarding what I said last night about 'love,' I th—"

"It's not about that," Paige cut him off. "Well, not really. Maybe a little."

"What about it then?" Walter inquired, curious as to where she was going with her statement.

"I think you and I can both agree that there are a lot of things in this universe that is beyond our understanding, correct?"

"If you're referring to the fact that certain aspects of the universe – or rather, science – haven't been fully explored due to the lack of advances in modern technology, then yes, to a degree, your statement is accurate." Walter replied and then swallowed the lump in his throat. "So," he looked away briefly and then found her gaze again, "yes, I do, to some extent, believe there's still mysteries out there, unsolved."

"But you can't see those mysteries," Paige was turning his words against him. That was one of the very few qualities he didn't really care for. But he would be a fool to deny the fact that her insight had been proven useful and quite profound in the past.

Walter hesitated for an answer, and he realized Paige Dineen had once again cornered him. "Mysteries are like theories," he looked back at the stars. "They're logical and plausible but untested. Once theories are able to be tested and proven accurate, they become facts. Now a theory like alien life or the notion of God are absolutely," he forced a laugh, "ridiculous. They _can't_ be proven one way or another. I recognize the fact that people still buy into that nonsense and those things _might_ be real to them, but," he quickly glanced at Paige, then at the stars, then back at Paige again, "they're only fairytales to me."

"You said the same thing about love just a few weeks ago," Paige smirked. "Humor me for one second."

"Okay."

"Close your eyes." She ordered.

"Why?"

"Just do it." Paige laughed. He sighed and did as he was told. "Now, focus on the first time we slept together…."

"I don't see the point to this, but okay?" Walter pressed his lips together as he focused his mind on the memory. It was as clear as day to him – not something he ever wanted nor planned on forgetting.

"Have it in your mind?"

"Yes." Walter still thought Paige was being a little ridiculous.

"Good. Now, you don't have to elaborate, but when we first made love, did you feel a lot of feelings you didn't particularly understand?" Paige's arms hooked around his neck. He almost opened his eyes, but she caught him and told him to keep them closed.

"To answer your query simply, yes. There were." Walter answered honestly.

"Even though you couldn't see those feelings nor understand them, you still felt them, am I right?" Paige's voice was getting soothingly closer to his ear.

"Correct."

"You can open your eyes now," she whispered mellifluously; he opened his eyes and found her incredibly close. Her lips were mere centimeters from his.

"If you were, um, if you were trying to change my opinion through that silly exercise, it failed miserably." Walter stated, causing Paige to laugh.

"I wasn't trying to change your opinion, Walter." Paige cupped his cheeks.

"Then what was the exercise for?" Walter raised an eyebrow.

"I just wanted to provide a different perspective on things," Paige kissed him once. Twice. And then she weaved her fingers into his hair. "People who believe in God, Walter, are at the same disadvantage as you. Physically, they can't see Him. Just like you can't see your feelings. And yet, just as those feelings are real to you, God is real to the people who believe in Him. For the sake of this discussion, we will call those feelings you felt 'love.' Be honest, Walter, as you look at me…, feel my touch…, listen to my voice," she looked into his eyes, "are you feeling those feelings now?"

Walter nodded.

"So…, _through_ me, in a way, you are able to see or at least recognize those feelings, yes?"

"I can see you're reaching for something." Walter said as he nodded in response to her question.

"If that's the case for you, then is it really a bad thing if people who believe in God believe they can see Him through nature? The stars? The vastness of the universe?" Paige inquired as her fingers found their way to his cheeks again.

"Since you put it that way," Walter gulped, "I can see the comparison and the relevance, but it doesn't change what _I_ personally think."

"And I don't _want_ you to feel forced to change _any_ of your opinions, Walter. You believe what you want to believe; nothing's wrong with that. I just…," she smiled, "I just want you to be able to better understand other kinds of worldviews. With a better perspective on things, it'll benefit you and Scorpion in the long run. Okay?"

"Okay." He nodded.

"Good talk," she smacked his cheek with a spirited smile and then kissed him hard on the mouth. "I don't know about you," she muttered as she retracted her palms from his face and took a step back from him, "but I'm ready to head back to the suite."

"Are you tired?" Walter asked with a level of concern as they started making their way back to their suite.

"No. Not really." She answered slyly and then stopped him from walking further to whisper a long list of sexually stimulating things into his ear. "How does that sound?"

Walter gulped and forced a smile. "Sounds like it's, um, gonna be a long night, then."

"And one you won't forget either." She sang softly into his ear and started walking ahead of him, leaving him standing on the deck like a love-struck fool. As far as Walter O'Brien was concerned, that brazen woman was going to be the death of him if he wasn't too careful.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

Pleeeeeeease let me know what you think! I tried to incorporate _some_ QUINTIS humor in here. :P


	11. Chapter 11

**WriterFreak001:**

Okay so we all know FFN was down for a while… :( but when it DOES return, you'll at least have read two chapters more! :)

By the way…. I have probably seen that sneak peek of Toby & Walter about twenty times now since it was released last night. Needless to say…I have no life. -_-; BUT I AM SO FREAKIN' EXCITED!

Oh, and I hope you're okay with this, but the likelihood of finishing this story by Monday is very small since it turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated. I hope you are all right with that!

Anyway, I'll shut up now.

* * *

**WARNING:**

**Readers' Discretion is advised! (now you can't say I didn't warn ya!)**

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

" **And I don't** _ **want**_ **you to feel forced to change** _ **any**_ **of your opinions, Walter. You believe what you want to believe; nothing's wrong with that. I just…," she smiled, "I just want you to be able to better understand other kinds of worldviews. With a better perspective on things, it'll benefit you and Scorpion in the long run. Okay?"**

" **Okay." He nodded.**

" **Good talk," she smacked his cheek with a spirited smile and then kissed him hard on the mouth. "I don't know about you," she muttered as she retracted her palms from his face and took a step back from him, "but I'm ready to head back to the suite."**

" **Are you tired?" Walter asked with a level of concern as they started making their way back to their suite.**

" **No. Not really." She answered slyly and then stopped him from walking further to whisper a long list of sexually stimulating things into his ear. "How does that sound?"**

**Walter gulped and forced a smile. "Sounds like it's, um, gonna be a long night, then."**

" **And one you won't forget either." She sang softly into his ear and started walking ahead of him, leaving him standing on the deck like a love-struck fool. As far as Walter O'Brien was concerned, that brazen woman was going to be the death of him if he wasn't too careful.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 11**

**~ SCORPION ~**

It was very early in the morning, and Walter O'Brien was wide awake.

As Paige Dineen slept peacefully against Walter with her cheek resting on top of the right side of his chest, he couldn't help but wonder how a woman like Paige could even fall for a guy like him. Nothing about it made any sense, and yet, here she was with her long, slender leg coiled around his and her palm splayed against his lower abdomen. Her touch was _very_ real, and the fact that Paige held so much power over him – even with one simple touch – was overwhelming but rewarding at the same time. Since the first day he had met Paige, he slowly discovered that she was certainly not a weak woman; time and time again, she would often chastise him…, correct him…, stand up to him… when the other members of his team would usually leave things alone and heed his orders. Walter _did_ notice, however, that because of Paige, the rest of his team was beginning to stand up to him a lot more – and he would be an idiot to deny the fact that sometimes he _needed_ a reality check from his friends.

Back in August when he had first met Paige, he _never_ would have pictured himself waking up and finding her sleeping in his arms, but then again, half of the things he had done over the past six or so months were things he never thought he'd ever do if it weren't for Paige's insight and guidance. Just as Ralph had a strong impact in his life, Paige did as well – perhaps even more s0 than the boy.

"Are you okay, Walter?" Paige's concerned voice broke Walter out of his lingering thoughts as she slid her palm up to his cheek and met his gaze.

"Mhmm." He nodded and lightly kissed her thumb as it ran over his lips. "Just thinking."

"You're _always_ thinking," she laughed and then pulled him in for a series of short, chaste kisses.

"It's…," he mumbled against her lips, "…how I am…."

"I know," Paige smiled as she climbed on top of him and pressed her belly against his, "I know it's how you are." She weaved her fingers through his hair as he found himself wrapping his legs around her hips and snaking his right arm across the middle of her back to keep her close to him. "So what can I do?"

"Hm?"

"What can I do to help you escape your mind for a while?" Paige asked she cupped his face, lightly covering his ears with the tips of her long fingers.

"Trust me," Walter gulped in response to her soft tantalizations, " _y-you're_ already d-doing it."

"Oh…, is that so?" Paige's voice faded as she covered his lips with her mouth.

"Mmmm…." Walter, lost within Paige's voice, hummed softly against her plump lips as they kissed and slowly made love. Her soft touch felt like fire on his skin, and beyond all thought and reason, she made him crave everything she had to offer. His growing desire for Paige was insatiable, and to some degree, he was flattered…, honored…, that she would share something completely visceral and indescribably intimate with him above…well, above normals.

Walter would be lying to himself if he didn't want to see the smug grin fall off of Drew's face if or when he found out about Walter and Paige's newfound relationship, but Paige didn't need to know about the tiny sense of victory Walter felt within him. At least not any time soon.

As Paige slowly rocked her body with his, she kissed him fervently. Her fingers locked with his, and her tongue lolled into his mouth, giving Walter the taste of euphoria. Careful not to stretch his stitches, Walter cradled her head with his left palm, causing Paige to gently lift her lips from his and stare into his eyes. Her irises were glossed with a soft desire, and when she muttered how much she loved him, Walter, for the first time in his life, was not only able to recognize the notion of love, but he was also able to comprehend its immeasurable quality through Paige's voice…, her touch…, her kiss…, the life in her eyes…, the softness of her skin…, her glowing personality…, the curve of her smile…, the swelling of her breasts…, her elegance…, her modesty…, her subtle beauty…. All things which made Paige, Paige.

He was finally realizing just how hard he had fallen for the woman giving him her everything. These new feelings he was experiencing didn't frighten him as much anymore; he was able to have a stronger understanding of them each time he looked into Paige's soft brown eyes.

And since he believed in what he could see, he was starting to believe in the possibility that love actually _did_ exist. That love was actually powerful enough for people to be affected by the affections of others…. That it wasn't a junk science after all.

Maybe….

Just maybe….

Romantic love _did_ exist between two individuals.

"I love you so much," Paige muttered into his ear once more before she pressed her lips against his and kissed him hard on the mouth. And as they kissed each other senselessly, Walter eventually came to the conclusion that he was _very_ much in love with Paige Dineen.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

I know this one was short, but I am rearranging the chapter highlights a bit. :)

Chapter 11 – All Around Waige Fluff (duh, you already read it)

Chapter 12 – Last day on the cruise

Chapter 13 – Return to LA

Chapter 14 – V-Day Party & Epilogue

Yeah, I won't be able to finish this story by Monday ….. BUT IT WILL BE FINISHED BY THE END OF THE WEEK! :D (and then I will resume Mind Games!)


	12. Chapter 12

**WriterFreak001:**

This chapter will probably be short as well, but we will see.

CAN'T WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW! :D

I hope this three-week break hasn't discouraged fans from watching the show. :( Some people thought episode 15 was the season finale, but it isn't. There's still about 7 or so episodes left of the season. X)

* * *

**WARNING:**

**Readers' Discretion is advised! (now you can't say I didn't warn ya!)**

* * *

**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

* * *

**He was finally realizing just how hard he had fallen for the woman giving him her everything. These new feelings he was experiencing didn't frighten him as much anymore; he was able to have a stronger understanding of them each time he looked into Paige's soft brown eyes.**

**And since he believed in what he could see, he was starting to believe in the possibility that love actually** _**did** _ **exist. That love was actually powerful enough for people to be affected by the affections of others…. That it wasn't a junk science after all.**

**Maybe….**

**Just maybe….**

**Romantic love** _**did** _ **exist between two individuals.**

" **I love you so much," Paige muttered into his ear once more before she pressed her lips against his and kissed him hard on the mouth. And as they kissed each other senselessly, Walter eventually came to the conclusion that he was** _ **very**_ **much in love with Paige Dineen.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 12**

**~ SCORPION ~**

A few hours later, Walter woke up to find Paige sitting at the foot of the bed with one of the sheets loosely wrapped around her bosom as she stared at the small, circular window overlooking the sea.

"Paige?" He spoke her name softly, not wanting to startle her in the process. When she didn't answer, he slid off of the left side of the bed and then sat down next to her, wondering if she was even aware of his presence. He muttered her name again, but she made no response.

As he assessed her condition, he recalled a time when he had almost traveled down the Rabbit Hole as he was studying jet propulsion for the Karman Line Prize in hopes to win fifty million dollars for his sister's benefit. After everyone had retired for the night, he stayed up to work on an algorithm for trajectory optimization that would coincide with Toby's stab wound theory; a few hours later, he lost himself in the numbers and started spinning away from his initial goal only to begin hypothesizing suppositions for the impossible. He didn't even realize Paige and Ralph were still at the garage. Ralph had been sleeping on the red couch, and Paige was working at her desk, filing bills and paperwork. He remembered the warm touch of her long fingers on his face after she had found him mumbling to himself as he was writing bizarre equations all over the surface of his steno notepad. The softness of her palms cupping his face had broken him from his mental state and brought him back to reality. With Paige, tactile communication went a long way for Walter so he wondered if the same application would have conclusive results in reverse.

As Walter uttered her name again, he casually placed his palm over her left leg and gave it a gentle squeeze. She blinked once…, twice… before she turned her head and met his gaze. "Yes?" The clueless expression in her eyes reminded him of what it was like waking up from the Rabbit Hole, and for some unknown reason, he threw his head backwards and let out a hearty laugh as he fell against the sheets. The soft impact of his left shoulder hitting the mattress caused him to coddle his injury, but his rare fits of laughter did not die down from the pain. "Walter, what's so funny?" Paige joined in on the laughter as she trapped him against the bed and gave him a look of bewilderment. He reached up and curled a loose strand of her hair behind her ear as his chuckles died down; the genuine smile on his face did not disappear though. "What's so funny, Walter?" she repeated as her palms cupped his cheeks and pressed her belly against his lower abdomen.

"Of all of the people," Walter bit his lip as he found Paige's eyes and weaved his fingers through her hair, "I had predicted to go down some version of the Rabbit Hole, _you_ were certainly not one of them."

"What're you talking about?" Paige lifted an eyebrow and laughed in response to his statement.

"When I woke up, I found you in a catatonic state."

"And you find that funny?" Paige seemed even more confused.

His eyes shifted downward. "No," he found her gaze again, " _that_ part was actually concerning. What I found funny was…the familiar, oblivious expression you had on your face when you came out of it. I was just not expecting the irony of it all."

Paige smirked and pulled him in for a kiss before resting her head on his shoulder. "I think that was the first time I've ever seen you laugh like that," she said and then planted a kiss on his cheek. "You certainly don't do it often."

"No. I do not." Walter agreed with her statement. "By the way, I can understand someone zoning out from an intellectual inducement, but what would have sent _you_ into a catatonic state like that?"

"I don't know, really," Paige shrugged. "I remember waking up before you to go to the bathroom, and then when I came back, I stopped to stare out the window and started thinking about different things," She paused and laced her fingers with his. "I guess I just got lost in my thoughts."

"What kinds of things were you thinking about?" Walter inquired, curious to know what exactly could have sent Paige down a shallow Rabbit Hole.

"Oh, just things…. Mostly Ralph and his future… and," her eyes found his, " _our_ future."

"What about it?" Walter forced a chuckle as Paige's eyes shifted down towards his chest.

She faked a laugh. "I know it's a bit _late_ to be asking this since…," she gestured towards their conjoined genitalia, "…we're…."

"Having sex?" Walter lifted an eyebrow.

"I was going to say 'sexually involved,' but that works too," Paige faked another laugh. "Anyway, I don't want _us_ to be a onetime thing, Walter." She still didn't look at him. "We may have gotten a little over our heads these past few days…, and it might have been because of the romantic setting and such…, but," she doodled imaginary circles along his chest, "I need to know if…what's going on here…is more than just the cruise."

"I don't understand what you're trying to say."

She finally looked into his eyes. "I need to know, Walter, if you want there to be an 'us' when we return to LA. Because…," she looked away again, "I have Ralph to think of, and if what's been going on inside this cruise suite is nothing more than a vacation fling, then we need to call things off before we land."

"Paige," Walter caught her gaze, "I," he inhaled a deep breath, "I want this…, um…, I want th-there t-to be an us." He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. "You and R-ralph are, um, a-are th-the m-most important…, um, the most important th-things to me."

"I know," Paige smiled and lightly kissed him. "I know."

"Then I don't understand the purpose of your query." Walter frowned.

"To me," Paige cupped his face, "Ralph is my most important thing."

"As he should be." Walter agreed before Paige placed a finger on his lips and hushed him so she could continue with further explaining her inquiry.

"You and I both know Ralph looks up to you in so many ways, Walter," Paige grinned as her thumbs rubbed along the skin underneath his eyes. "You are a great mentor to him, and in spite of Drew's short visit, you have had a strong fatherly influence on Ralph. The last thing _I_ want is to confuse Ralph, and I definitely do not want _anything_ to damage the relationship you have with my son, Walter. So," Walter noticed the tears welling up in her eyes, "I need to know if you're serious about our relationship, and if you are…, I need to know if there's any possibility that our relationship could harm the bond you have with Ralph." A tear fell down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it off. "Because…," she continued, "…if it came down to choosing either protecting your relationship with my son or maintaining _our_ relationship, I'd choose to protect your relationship with Ralph in a heartbeat."

Walter didn't understand from where all of her inquiries were stemming because he thought he had been very obvious with her as to how he felt about their newfound relationship, but he did believe her questions were valid ones to have. Like Paige, Walter thought his relationship with Ralph was extremely important to maintain and protect because it was pertinent for Ralph to meet his highest potential. Walter knew how significant relationships were to the mentally enabled; since the majority of geniuses failed to connect with the outside world, the relationships they _did_ establish were important to maintain. Knowing that his relationship with Ralph had been developed long before he and Paige kindled their relationship, he agreed it was best to keep Ralph's needs first.

"I want _this_ to work." Walter muttered as he found her brown irises.

"But will it?" Paige seemed insecure.

To answer her query honestly, Walter didn't know. He wasn't well equipped with EQ so he couldn't give her accurate facts or figures to satisfy her question. After all, Cabe had reminded him how fickle relationships could be so there was no telling what the future held for him and Paige. So instead of facts and numbers, he gave her the next best honest answer he could muster. "If you want statistics, Paige, I can't give them to you. It's impossible for me to compute anything in regards to EQ."

"Oh," she forced a laugh. "Right. Sorry for…putting you in an awkward position."

"I'm not done," Walter said as he slowly pushed himself forward, bringing Paige along with him. Her legs curled around his hips as he tugged her closer to him by wrapping his legs around her too. "Your query," he continued, "about the future is something I cannot answer adequately." He took her hands in his and held them against his chest, "Ralph," he closed his eyes and gulped, "Ralph i-is like the, um, the son I've n-never h-had." He paused when he saw the glowing smile on Paige's face brighten. "I, too, do n-not, um, do not want a-anyth-thing to h-hinder m-my relationship w-with…with him. H-he is imp-important t-to me." He gulped. "So are you."

"What are you trying to say, Walter?"

"I, um, I can't pr-promise y-you future, um, future s-statistics on either relationship." Walter reiterated. "I c-can only conf-confirm what I f-feel pr-presently."

"And what's that?" Paige implored.

"Um," Walter closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath. "I, um, want _both_ relationships to, um, t-to work. I…. I l-l-love you, Paige…, he gulped, "…R-Ralph too."

Paige's lips curved to a smile as she hooked her arms around his neck and then kissed him hard on the mouth. Her fingers traveled to his shoulders, and in the heat of the moment, she forced him backwards against the bed. He couldn't hide his grimace nor his painful groan from Paige as she pushed down on his left shoulder in the process. "Oh my!" she immediately tore her lips away from him and examined his wound, "I am so sorry!"

"I'll survive," Walter winced from the lingering pain.

"I don't know what I was even thinking!" Paige reprimanded herself and lightly smacked her cheeks.

"I think," Walter forced a chuckle, "it's safe to say you weren't thinking at all."

" _Neither_ of us really were," she teased and pecked his lips before sliding off of him.

"Where're you going?" Walter watched her as she circled around the bed and sauntered towards the bathroom.

"I'm hungry," Paige confessed with a laugh. "I'm going to take a shower so we can make use of our last day on this cruise."

"It seemed like we were efficiently making use of the day already," Walter's eyes lit up when she giggled at his attempted joke. He slid off of the bed and walked up to her.

"Your jokes are certainly improving," Paige smirked as she led him to the bathroom. "There may be a funny bone in you yet, Mr. O'Brien."

"Did you know that the so-called funny bone to which people constantly refer is not actually a bone; it's a nerve known as the Ulnar Nerve?" Walter asked, trying to make casual conversation as Paige turned on the shower water.

"I _did_ know that." Paige chuckled.

"So," Walter's voice trailed as she turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist, "if you _really_ want to get serious about tapping into your inner 'funny bone,' you should consider, in a metaphorical sense of course, consulting with your Humerus in lieu of the Ulnar Nerve."

Paige laughed as she clamped his cheeks between her palms and smooshed his face inward, causing his lips to pucker together. "Now you're just trying too hard," she smoothed out his face and then pulled him down for a kiss before they entered the shower to continue where they left off when they were on the bed.

They didn't leave their suite for another three hours.

**~ SCORPION ~**

Eventually, Walter and Paige _did_ migrate out of their suite and after lunch, they ventured the different levels of the cruise in hopes that either Walter would find something intellectually engaging (which was highly unlikely) to him on the ship or that Paige would find something fun to do for the remainder of their mini vacation. While Paige was enlightened by the idea of receiving a nice back massage while they were on their trip, Walter was mortified by the mere thought of strangers rubbing their hands all over his back, shoulders or wherever they're _allowed_ to touch. When Walter found out they had an aquarium onboard, he and Paige compromised to go their separate ways for the time being; he would spend some time studying maritime life, and Paige would retrieve the back massage she was aching for.

It was hard for Walter to focus on the various fish in front of him when he was unsettled with the idea of Paige receiving a bare back massage from the Italian male masseuse he had left her with. He was tempted to go back and check on her, but he didn't want to seem… how did normals usually define it? ...oh, right. Possessive. One thing he knew about maintaining relationships was upholding a level of trust; if he gave her any indication that he didn't trust her with a random male stranger, the result might not bode well for him. But that didn't mean he wasn't antsy. Like the time at the charity banquet where the host stole Paige away for a dance, he was constantly checking the time, and as the minutes neared the hour, the slower the minutes seemed to pass.

Waiting for Paige to find him was pure torture; he would give her five minutes past the hour before making any decision to find her himself. Thirty-five minutes into the hour, Paige found him and pulled him into an isolated corridor where she grabbed his cheeks and kissed him hard on the mouth. He was certainly surprised by her brazen behavior, but he definitely wasn't complaining. "Hey, hey, hey," he finally pulled away from her before things became _too_ heated between them, "I'm flattered, but," he looked around, glad that no one had stopped to watch them make out in the hallway, "where is all _this_ coming from?"

"I left my session early," Paige kissed him again.

"I see that," Walter chuckled against her lips. When she started to grab and pull at him as she shoved her tongue past his lips, he realized something was _very_ off about her. It was almost as if, for some reason, she _needed_ him _immediately_. Her words echoed into his mind. "Wait, wait," he pulled away from her and placed some distance between the two of them, "why did you leave early?" She didn't answer. She tried to kiss him again as to avoid the subject, but he placed his palms on her shoulders and maintained the distance between them. "Paige?"

She sighed and shrugged. "The masseuse was getting a little handsy; that's all."

Walter felt a strong sense of anger growing within him, but as he started to storm off to find that bastard (a term he only used when he sincerely meant it), Paige grabbed him and begged him to leave it alone. She told him it wasn't a big deal, but from the way she had practically forced herself on him translated to Walter as a _very_ big deal. Paige finally convinced him to return to the suite with her; once they were back inside the suite, Walter wanted to know what had happened during her session, and after several minutes of denying his request, Paige finally gave in and told him.

"For the first twenty-five minutes," Paige sat down on the bed and leaned on Walter's shoulder as she linked her fingers with his, "everything was fine. He did ask me a few questions…they were all silly ones like favorite soup, favorite book...those sorts of things. I thought nothing of them. They were just mindless answers. And then, he started asking more personal questions," she didn't elaborate, "questions that made me feel uncomfortable around him so I kindly asked him to mind his business. I don't think he liked that very much because he started pressing too hard. The more I asked him not to press as hard, he massaged harder and moved his hands lower. And when he started to remove the towel, I quickly asked him if he could get me a cup of water; he nodded and disappeared around the corner. I took advantage of his absence and got dressed. Then I came to find you." She forced a laugh. "Then _I_ became a little handsy…." She kissed his cheek and then rose to her feet. "I'm going to take another shower so I can wash the remnants of that guy's filthy touch off of my back."

"Okay." Walter nodded as she walked towards the bathroom. "Is there anything I can do?"

She smiled. "Just…behave."

He watched her as she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Something told him Paige was hiding something, but he decided to let it slide for the time being; he would deal with that scumbag later. To keep his mind busy, he walked over to the couch, which was lined up against the wall dividing the lounge area of the suite and the bathroom, and logged into his computer to work on some of his most recent algorithms.

But the small sounds he heard coming from the bathroom disturbed him. He stopped what he was doing and made his way to the bathroom door; the door was cracked. Walter knew he shouldn't spy on Paige, but curiosity bested him so he peeked through the door and didn't like what he was seeing. She was stripped out of her clothes and was sitting on the toilet with her face buried in her palms. He glanced at the mirror behind Paige and saw her back in the mirror's reflection. Dark bruises covered the surface of her back, angering him even more. He also saw bruises on other parts of her body, but something told him she wasn't crying over the bruises, though. The shower water was still on, but she hadn't stepped inside of the cubical yet. Walter needed a task to keep himself from storming down to the masseuse office to bash that bastard's nose into his skull. His eyes softened when he looked at Paige again. Something told him she needed him so he kicked off his shoes, peeled off his clothes and pushed the door open before pulling her hands away from her face only to find tears staining her cheeks.

Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her to her feet and led her to the walk-in shower. The first thing he did was cleanse her back with his hands to purify any touch that scumbag could have made on her. He knew she was keeping something from him, but he wasn't going to pry the information out of her. He had ways of finding those kinds of things out for himself.

After he cleaned the grime off of her, they made their way to the bed, and he physically proved to her how much he loved her by kissing…, licking…, touching…, feeling every inch of her body. And when she fell asleep next to him, he slid out of the bed, pulled the sheets over her to cover her nakedness, got dressed, wrote a quick note for Paige in case she woke up while he was gone and stepped outside of the suite.

Instead of barging into the masseuse office like he had originally planned, he realized he needed to be smart about this situation. Whatever happened to Paige could be turned against her if not handled properly; it was the masseuse's word against hers. But he believed her – even _if_ she deviated away from the truth a little bit. Standing outside the suite door, he pulled out his phone and called Cabe.

" _Hello?"_

"Cabe. I need to see a copy of that employee list." Walter frowned but tried to remain calm.

" _Why?"_

"No reason," he lied.

" _Don't start lying to me kid. Why do you need the list?"_

"Meet me at that bench Paige and I were at last night when Toby called." Walter said and then ended the call. He snuck back inside the suite and grabbed his computer. As he turned to head out the door, he asked himself what Paige would do if she were going to leave him for a short while. When he came up with an answer, he placed his computer down on the table, walked over to Paige who was still sleeping soundly in the bed and kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open, and she quietly called out to him as he turned to leave. He sat on the side of the bed and told her he was going to meet up with Cabe – which was a partial truth. When she started rising out of the bed to join him, he gently pushed her back down into the mattress and told her to get some rest. He promised he would be back as soon as he and Cabe were finished. When she finally caved in and pulled the sheets back over her body, he leaned down and gently kissed her. "I love you," he whispered into her ear before withdrawing from her warmth. And as he picked up his computer again, she mumbled an 'I love you too' back to him. He turned to look at her, and she had already twisted over in the sheets and was facing the wall.

And as he left the suite, he remembered his reason for leaving and quickly ran off to meet Cabe.

**~ SCORPION ~**

"Now that we've got a name, you going to tell me what this is all about?" Cabe lifted an eyebrow as Walter searched the masseuse's name in every database he could think of.

"Not until I know something definitive." Walter replied as he stared at his computer screen. He didn't want to divulge if he didn't have to.

"Stop messing with me, kid, and answer the question." Cabe barked.

"Fine." Walter sighed and pinched his nose. There really wasn't any other way around the truth now. "I don't know the particulars, but _that_ _piece of filth_ ," Cabe's eyes widened to Walter's use of trash talk towards the employee, "sexually molested Paige earlier today."

Cabe's face grew dark. "That's a _strong_ accusation, Walter. Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes." Walter answered Cabe with conviction.

"Because if you're not and you're wrong –"

"–I'm not wrong."

"I didn't say you were." Cabe frowned. "I'm just sayin' that allegations like that could take a negative turn very quickly."

"I'm not wrong, Cabe." Walter clenched his fists. "He made her cry."

The moment his computer beeped, Walter checked the results for an Egidio Abelli. After a single glance at his computer screen, Walter bolted from the bench and disappeared as Cabe shouted his name.

Cabe glanced at the computer screen. He quickly read through the profile that had popped up from Interpol's database. "Well shit." Cabe cursed as he closed Walter's computer, shoved it into the genius's bag and then ran off to follow Walter.

**~ SCORPION ~**

Walter stormed through the cruise and forced people out of his way as he darted for the masseuse's office. When he arrived, he saw Egidio washing his hands at a sink; without thinking, he charged for the man and went straight for the nose. The Italian coddled his nose and then struck back, punching Walter in the mouth. His lip busted open. Before Walter could strike another punch, Cabe pulled him off of the man and told him to cool his jets.

Walter tried pushing Cabe off of him as the agent kept him from assaulting the masseuse again. "Get off of me!"

"Breaking his face isn't going to solve anything!" Cabe barked loudly as other employees started gathering around to see what the commotion was.

"You're right!" Walter shouted, "He deserves far worse than a broken nose!" Walter continued to try and push Cabe out of the way, but when Cabe purposely punched Walter in the left shoulder where his gunshot wound was, Walter doubled over in pain and clenched his injury.

Egidio rose to his feet and spat blood out of his mouth. Cabe flashed his badge, and Egidio told Cabe to arrest Walter for assaulting him.

"On what grounds?" Cabe was trying to rile the Italian up. "I didn't see anything." And in truth, he didn't. Not the action, at least.

"Do you not see my nose?!" Egidio pointed to his still-bleeding nose as he flailed his arms in the air. The riling certainly worked.

"Oh I see it all right, Rudolf." Cabe smirked and then said, "Now Mr. Abelli, I know for a fact you are wanted by Interpol for taking part in a European sex trafficking industry. So, we can do things the easy way," Cabe pulled out a set of cuffs, "or the hard way."

"I do not know what you are talking about!" Egidio exclaimed.

"Spare me the lies," Cabe frowned and slammed Egidio's head against the counter. He saw the various employees and told them to scram. They scattered immediately. Cabe bent down close to Egidio's ear and whispered loudly for Walter to hear him. "The man who broke your nose happens to be one of the five smartest people ever recorded. Unlike you, he's no idiot – most times. Now, you're going to answer my questions as thoroughly as possible if you don't want your fingers broken too." Egidio nodded quickly. "Good. All right, now, have you seen that man before?"

"No."

"He's lying." Walter spat and pushed himself to his feet. His wound was bleeding again; Cabe had opened the stitches when he punched him.

As Cabe kept the man's head pressed against the counter, he reached down with his knuckles and squeezed Egidio's nose. "I suggest you tell the truth."

"Okay! Okay!" Egidio confessed. "I saw him earlier in the day! His wife was one of my clients!"

"Yes. His wife." Cabe exaggerated the situation. "My friend here, who's like a son to me, told me this wild story that you were inappropriate around his _wife_. And I'll have you know that she's like a daughter to me so you better not lie to me."

Walter noticed a camera hidden between books on the counter. He saw his computer bag sitting on a table so he walked over to it and pulled out his laptop. Then he took the camera and inserted the SD card into his SD jack. He skimmed through the files until he saw one time stamped around the time Paige had gone into the office. He ignored whatever Cabe was doing to Egidio to get him to talk and reviewed the video file. He wanted to see it first before considering showing it to Cabe in the event that it compromised Paige in anyway.

As he reviewed the video, he felt sickened because it had taped her undressing herself, and if the video captured Paige, it probably captured other women as well. Everything Paige had told him was true except for the ending part of her explanation. The masseuse had succeeded in removing the towel; Paige, of course, figured it out right away and scrambled from the massaging table with one of the other towels in hand. She clutched it to her body as if it was the last thing she was ever going to do. That scumbag advanced her, but she dodged him and grabbed her clothes. He circled behind her and yanked on her hair. There had been a struggle for several minutes, but Paige was certainly holding her own. She wasn't a Happy Quinn, but he knew Paige would never go down without a fight. He grimaced every time the man grabbed her in inappropriate places; then he saw Paige deliver a blow to the masseuse's stomach, causing him to double over. She used that time to gather her belongings and scram out of there. Just when he thought it was the end of the tape, Egidio pulled out his phone and dial someone. The man then said, "Number 32 is promising. And don't worry, her fighting spirit can be easily subdued."

And then the video ended.

Walter closed his computer and placed it inside his bag with the SD still inside the jack. Walter advanced Egidio, and like the last time, Cabe stood in his way after handcuffing Egidio's hands behind his back. "Oh no you don't, kid! Not again!"

"Get away from me!" Walter scrambled to force his way by Cabe. "I saw the video!" He shouted at Egidio. "I saw the video!"

"What video?" Cabe inquired, but Walter ignored him.

Egidio smirked. "Entertaining, was it not?"

Walter managed to get by Cabe and knocked Egidio to the ground. He rammed his fist into the Italian's face multiple times before Cabe managed to pull him off of the guy again. "He's not worth it, Walter!" Cabe frowned. "He's going to prison for a very long time so enough's enough!"

Walter fumed, but Cabe threatened to punch his shoulder again. Taking a step back from the agent, Walter grabbed the nearest object he could find – a coffee mug of all things – and smashed it against the counter as hard as he could. He thought to give Egidio another beating, but Cabe demanded him to go back to the suite. Walter, at first, refused, but when Cabe told him to be with Paige, he released a heavy sigh of defeat and headed for the door.

And as Walter walked away, Egidio said some inappropriate comments about his encounter with Paige; those comments would have sealed his fate in Walter's eyes had Cabe not stopped him once again from pummeling the man to a pulp. Cabe urged Walter to leave effectively and immediately, and as Walter turned towards the door once more, Cabe slammed his fist into the Italian's jaw and knocked the man out. "That was for pissing me off."

**~ SCORPION ~**

Walter returned to the suite as promised after getting his gunshot wound re-stitched and found Paige laying on the bed, watching TV. When she saw him, she noticed his busted lip right away and frowned.

"Walter, I told you to leave things alone," Paige slid off of the bed and walked up to him. She was wearing one of his shirts over her body.

"And I was," he lied, "until I found you crying."

"And I said it wasn't a big deal."

"I saw what happened," Walter decided not to hide anything from her anymore. "I found a hidden video camera; it had taped the entire thing."

"What?" She took a step back from him. "What are you talking about?"

"He was recording all of his sessions for personal benefit." Walter explained.

She inhaled a deep breath. "Did you assault him?"

"Yes." Walter answered quickly. "Multiple times."

She sat down on the bed. "Walter, I told you to leave this alone; now there's probably going to be an investigation. He might sue…."

"Be grateful I intervened, Paige." Walter rested his hands on her shoulders. "That so-called masseuse is wanted by Interpol for being involved in a European sex trafficking operation! Those sessions were just his way to pick out his next targets." Walter frowned. "You were one of them."

Paige met his eyes. "W-what?"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Cabe's arrested him, and you're not leaving my sight for the remainder of this trip." Walter's palms slid from her shoulders to her arms. "I promise."

"Okay," Paige closed her eyes and sighed. "Promise me something else?"

"What?"

"I want to forget about it." She inhaled a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him. "He didn't…" She couldn't get herself to finish her statement, but he knew what she was trying to say. "…so I want to forget about it and pretend I never set foot inside that office. Okay?"

Walter knew it was going to be hard to forget, but he would try to do so for her. "Okay."

"Thanks." Paige sighed as she hugged and kissed him. He carried her to the bed, and instead of forcing her into anything, he simply held her in his arms until they fell asleep and took a nap.

**~ SCORPION ~**

* * *

**WriterFreak001:**

First of all, I did not plan for like half of this chapter to happen, but I couldn't stop typing it out. I know some of you probably could care less for it because of the content, but if you've read Deception, I don't like writing happy-go-lucky stories all of the time. There has to be drama somehow.

Anyway, to answer your question, NO. Paige was not (fill in the blank with the word you are thinking of). I thought it would be interesting to explore what Walter's behavior would have been like if he found out Paige was sexually molested. I also think Paige would have tried to hide it instead of tell Walter right away.

This chapter is the only dramatic chapter you'll read for the remainder of this story. The last two chapters will be happy fluff all around!

Oh, and by the way, I am going to put a little pause (just a day or so) to this story because I want to write a short one-shot for the potential V-Day date Walter and Paige will be having in the episode.

Anyway, I am getting a sense that people are not liking this story with lack of reviews….sooooo yeah.

Let me know what you think!


	13. Chapter 13

**WriterFreak001:**

Sorry for the late installment. RL got in the way… :(

ANYWAY… THAT EPISODE! AMAZINGLY PERFECT! :D

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**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

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" **Okay," Paige closed her eyes and sighed. "Promise me something else?"**

" **What?"**

" **I want to forget about it." She inhaled a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him. "He didn't…" She couldn't get herself to finish her statement, but he knew what she was trying to say. "…so I want to forget about it and pretend I never set foot inside that office. Okay?"**

**Walter knew it was going to be hard to forget, but he would try to do so for her. "Okay."**

" **Thanks." Paige sighed as she hugged and kissed him. He carried her to the bed, and instead of forcing her into anything, he simply held her in his arms until they fell asleep and took a nap.**

* * *

**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 13**

**~ SCORPION ~**

"I don't know about the two of you, but I am _so_ damn glad to get off this ship and head for home." Cabe said as he walked down the ramp towards land, followed by an exhausted Walter O'Brien and a homesick Paige.

"Me…too…." Walter heaved a heavy sigh. Because the captain felt partly responsible for the company hiring Inna Mikhailov without conducting a proper background check, the members of Scorpion were granted assistance transporting their luggage from the ship to the private plane. As long as Walter didn't have to carry anything, he was fine with the captain's decision – especially since he was hardly in the condition to carry anything because of his gunshot wound. Behind him and Paige, three of the captain's most trusted employees were lugging their luggage for them.

Luckily, they didn't have to walk far to board their awaited US issued private plane, and as soon as all of their luggage was loaded by the cruise's employees and when Cabe, Walter and Paige were seated inside, the pilot took off.

They were finally on their way back to LA.

While Cabe sat in a one-seater closer to the front of the plane, Walter and Paige shared a two-person couch towards the back of the cabin for the sake of privacy. Since both Walter and Paige were still weary from the events of the last two days, they simply sat in silence and enjoyed each other's company. While Paige slept, her cheek was pressed against Walter's right shoulder, and her fingers were conjoined with his. Occasionally, Cabe would come to the back to check on them, and each time he did, Walter was wide awake.

"Somethin' on your mind, kid?" Cabe asked as he sat down in front of Walter and leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him.

Walter glanced over to Paige who was still sleeping against his shoulder and then spoke quietly, not wanting to wake the woman next to him. "I know I'm not the best at reading expressions, but I can tell Paige is still bothered by what has happened to her in the last few days."

"I'm sure she _will_ be for a while." Cabe rubbed his eyes and then yawned. "Those kinds of memories can't be forgotten as easily as others." Cabe raised his eyebrow at Walter and then asked, "Seems like you're bummed about something else too."

Walter released a silent sigh. "How can I fix her problem?"

"You can't fix everything, Walter." Cabe rose to his feet and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Sometimes you just gotta leave 'em be; she'll recover, Walter." Cabe gave him a soft smile, "She just needs time, okay?" Time. Walter frowned. Time was the one thing he couldn't overcome. "Hey," Cabe whispered loudly, catching Walter's attention, "don't pout simply because something's not going your way, kid. Pouting about things out of your control is a waste of time, Walter."

Walter threw his head back and stared at the ceiling of the cabin. It would be one thing if Paige's problem was mathematical or logic-based, but because it had a lot more to do with EQ, he felt like he was being handcuffed – that he wasn't able to help her. At times like these, he wished he was more equipped with Emotional Quotient so that he could be more of an asset to Paige. "There has to be _some_ way to help her." He didn't realize he had spoken; he was merely thinking out loud, but Cabe gave him an answer anyway.

"You're doin' it, kid." Cabe gave Walter a thumb's up.

Walter leaned forward and rose an eyebrow towards Cabe. "Doing _what_ exactly?"

Cabe chuckled as he leaned against the side of the seat next to him. "Helping her, that's what."

Walter frowned. "Could you be a little more specific?"

Cabe folded his arms in front of him and smirked. "You see how complacent she is?" Walter nodded but didn't say anything. Cabe leaned forward and lowered his voice, giving the genius a small smile. "It means you're doin' something right, kid." Without another word, Cabe turned on his heels and returned to his seat in the front, leaving Walter to his thoughts.

Walter looked at Paige again as a tiny smile found his lips. He still didn't know how a woman like Paige could have fallen before him, but the longer he gazed at the sleeping beauty leaning against his shoulder, the more he realized that Cabe was right. Walter O'Brien, for the first time in his 'love' life, was actually doing something right – and he had _no_ idea what it was either.

**~ SCORPION ~**

Several hours later, they landed in LA and were taken back to the garage by limousine, courtesy of Homeland. Cabe was the first to open the door to the garage as he lugged his luggage inside. The driver brought Walter's bags inside and then Cabe came back out to fetch Paige's belongings. Ralph was the first to greet Walter and Paige as they walked through the door. The boy first ran and hugged his mom, and she well-reciprocated with a tight embrace, giving Ralph a plethora of kisses on cheeks, his forehead and his nose. Walter chuckled at the reunion and was surprised when Ralph hugged him as well. While he didn't embrace the boy in return, he _did_ ruffle Ralph's hair before the boy hugged his mom again.

Paige picked him up into her arms and carried him to the couch where she started to tell him about their case, leaving out specific details of course.

Walter headed for his desk and hooked in his laptop; when he turned around, Toby was standing right in front of him with a big smile on his face. "Sooooo? How waaaas _it_?"

"Tiresome." Walter said, thinking Toby was referring to the case in general.

"Better not let the _Mrs._ hear that." Toby smirked with a chuckle.

Suddenly realizing as to what Toby's initial query was actually about, Walter's jaw hardened. "If you came here to inquire information about certain events on the cruise, you can forget about it."

"It's not like I'm asking for _Fifty Shades of Grey_ , Walter. I just want a one-worded description." Toby folded his arms in front of him as Happy and Sylvester crowded behind him.

"I don't know what _Fifty Shades of Grey_ is, but you're not getting _anything_ from me." Walter replied as he logged into his desktop computer.

"Were the bed sheets sterilized before, you know," Sylvester's cheeks turned red, "before the two of you exchanged bodily fluids?"

"I highly doubt they even _cared_ about that, Sly." Happy chuckled as she mimicked Toby's stance.

"Yeah…," Toby smirked, "For all we know, they did the nasty in the limo on the way here. Probably contaminated the every surface of the garage in their wake too."

Sylvester looked at Walter, then Paige, and then took a step back. "I'll be…busy re-sterilizing everything if you need me." As he spun around and made his way back to his desk to search for all of the cleaning supplies he could find, Toby glanced over at Happy, and they shared a mutual smirk. Their quick exchange did not go unnoticed by Walter, but the 197 genius did not make anything of it. Then the pair glanced at Walter who was grimacing in response to Toby's comment.

Before anyone could say anything, Paige walked up to them and pointed towards Sylvester who was spraying the door handle with Lysol. "Why was Sylvester looking at me like I was carrying the Black Plague a few seconds ago?"

"Don't worry about it." Walter said before Toby could say anything more embarrassing.

However, despite Walter's quick answer, Toby still had to have his glory moment. "Yeah. Don't worry about it, Paige. I just told Sly how the two of you adulterated the garage as you walked in because you two were most likely doing the nasty the entire way back to LA and within the limo."

Paige rolled her eyes and told Toby to grow up before she headed for the kitchen.

"Once was funny," Happy commented as she started making her way back to her desk, "twice was redundant."

When Walter and Toby were alone again, the shrink lifted his eyebrows. "Sharing _is_ caring, Walter."

Walter rose from his desk and pushed his chair in. "We're done here."

"Just _one_ word, Walt. Just give me one word to go on and then I'll shut up about it." Toby clasped his hands in front of him and batted his eyes. "Pleeeeaaase?!"

Walter shook his head and grunted. "No." As he walked towards the kitchen to find Paige, Toby quickly followed him and continued begging the genius for a one-worded description describing his sexual experience with Paige, but Walter wouldn't give into the shrink's query.

When Walter was being less than cooperative, Toby wheeled around to Paige who was fixing herself some much-needed coffee. "So, Paige. We're besties, right?"

"If you think Walter's stubborn, Toby," Paige laughed, "I'm a force to be reckoned with." She poured coffee into two mugs and then placed the coffeepot back into the dispenser. She picked up the mugs, made her way over to Walter and gave him one.

"Fine," Toby huffed. "Then answer me one thing, oh Great Liaison." Toby looked at Walter and then smirked at Paige. "Was it _anything_ like that wet dream you had about Walter several weeks ago?"

As Paige glared at Toby, Walter choked on his coffee and then flicked his eyes towards Paige. Her cheeks were turning pink as she avoided Walter's curious glance. "Toby!" Paige snapped. "That was private! Besides I didn't even tell you any of the specifics nor who it was even about!"

Paige's response confirmed Walter's internal query; at first he had thought Toby was teasing her, but when she snapped at the shrink, it proved that Toby had been actually telling the truth – something he didn't do very often.

"Whoops!" Toby covered his mouth but continued to smirk. "Did I just say that out loud?" He couldn't hold his laughter. "Paige," he patted her shoulder but immediately withdrew his hand as if he was fearing she would bite it off or something, "It wasn't _that_ hard to put two and two together."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Unbelievable."

Toby raised his eyebrow and lowered his voice, "Is _that_ your final answer?"

Before Paige could respond, their conversation was interrupted.

"Hey Doc!" Cabe called from the other side of the room. "Help me get Walter's things up to his room."

Toby wheeled around on his heels and gave Cabe a weird look. "Are you going blind there, Cabe? Walter's more than capable of carrying his _own_ luggage upstairs."

"Now, Doc!" Cabe barked, giving Toby no explanation about Walter's condition.

"Fiiiine!" Toby exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. He turned back around and faced Walter and Paige. "We're not done with this conversation."

"Oh I think we are." Walter frowned as he sipped at his coffee again.

"You keep thinking that." Toby reached up and gave Walter three hard pats on the left shoulder. Walter gritted his teeth and grunted in pain as Toby immediately retracted his hand. "What's with you?"

Walter let out a sharp breath as he waited for the pain to die down. Paige placed her coffee down on the table and then took his mug from his hand before placing it next to hers.

"Can't you leave the poor man alone?!" Cabe hollered from the stairs. "The kid's recovering from a bullet wound right where you smacked him."

"Well why didn't you say something earlier?!" Toby snapped back at Cabe as Paige unbuttoned Walter's shirt to examine his stitches. Toby watched as Paige gently placed her long fingers on top of Walter's sutures and softly told the man that his stitches were still intact. Toby smirked at the small exchange between Walter and Paige as he slowly backed away from the couple. When Walter glared in Toby's direction, Toby whirled around on his toes and scrambled towards the stairs as he held his hat against his head and pulled up his sagging dark grey pants.

Paige slowly buttoned Walter's shirt back up and after she made sure no one was looking, she gave him a quick kiss; he didn't know how or why, but Paige had a strange way of calming him whenever he was angry, and the effect seemed a lot stronger now that they were sexually involved. She grabbed hold of his hand and loosely pulled him away from the kitchen as she made her way towards Ralph who was currently occupied with Proton Arnold.

"It's getting kind of late," Paige squeezed his hand; "Ralph has school tomorrow so I need to get him home before his bedtime." They stopped just short of Proton Arnold and walked towards Walter's desk to gain some distance from the boy.

"His school materials are already here, and you're exhausted." Walter muttered as Paige ran her thumbs over the tops of his hands as she held them.

"I know, but," she glanced over towards Ralph and then smirked, "The idea of sleeping in my own bed is very enticing right now."

"How would you get home?" Walter inquired. "Your car is back at your apartment, remember?"

"Perhaps Cabe could take us," Paige shrugged.

"He's going back to pick up his car with the agent," Walter paused and glanced at the man disassembling and reassembling his firearm at Paige's desk, "he dumped here last Monday."

"Right." Paige released his fingers and rubbed her temples. "Well, your car is constantly breaking down…. No offence, but I don't trust it to drive without dying in the middle of the road."

"Yeah," Walter glanced at Happy, "Remind me tomorrow to ask Happy why she keeps putting off the maintenance."

Paige laughed and hooked her arms around his neck. On the way back from the airport where they landed, they mutually agreed to keep their PDA to a minimum, but they weren't going to hide their relationship from the rest of the team. For one, their coworkers already know about their relationship so it would be futile to try to hide things from them, and two, had they decided to keep the PDA to their relationship private, they would never be able to have much of _any_ relationship outside of Walter's bedroom or Paige's apartment because they hardly _ever_ had private moments in the garage as is. They did, however, decide to keep their relationship professional while they were on cases (unless they were undercover as husband and wife again) to keep their minds on task and to continue promoting the respected reputation of the company that had been established over the last several months. "We'll stay on _one_ condition."

Walter felt chills run up his spine as her fingers started crawling their way to his hair. Her lips were getting dangerously close as she pushed herself upward onto her tiptoes. "And, um, and w-what would that be?" He knew she was teasing him again; after the last several days, he'd begun to recognize the difference between her absurd sexual teasers and her genuine desire. Usually when she was slowing her movements, she was only trying to make him squirm as she tantalized him.

As she brought her lips to his ear to whisper something, Toby interrupted them as he came running down the stairs. "Hey Walt! Yours _and_ Paige's stuff is upstairs in your private section of the loft. I figured the _Mrs._ would want to spend the night. Cabe went ahead and inflated the mattress for Ralphy-Boy; he set it up in the corner of your living quarters so I suggest the two of you," he raised his eyebrows as he looked at Walter and Paige. He then jumped off of the last step with a giant leap, "don't do any funny business in front of an innocent."

"I'm gonna head out." Cabe replied as he descended the stairs. "Come on Mueller. Reassemble your gun so we can go fetch my vehicle." The agent nodded and quickly did as Cabe said before rising to his feet.

"Before someone yells at me again," Toby stretched his arms and yawned, "I'm going to hit the sack." He started making his way towards his private quarters which was beyond the SERVICE section of the garage. Then he spun around and smirked at the woman working busily at her desk, "You coming, Happy?"

"Be there soon," Happy replied absentmindedly as she was tinkering with one of her newest inventions. Cabe, Walter and Paige stopped what they were doing and glanced at Happy, then at Toby, then at Happy again. Happy finally looked up. "Uhhhh…., I mean," she blushed but quickly recovered, "Keep dreamin' Doc!" She looked away from everyone and immediately returned to her invention and pretended to make herself look busy.

"Looks like the hat's out of the bag," Cabe chuckled and winked at Happy before nodding towards Walter and Paige. "I'm heading out now."

Once Cabe and Agent Mueller left the garage, Paige managed to coax Ralph away from Proton Arnold and escorted him up the stairs. Walter ensured her he would be up shortly so she proceeded going up the stairs and disappearing from his line of vision. Sylvester was still busy disinfecting the garage, and when he was in one of those moods, the team knew not to bother him and just let him be. Walter walked over to Happy and folded his arms in front of him. "So…," he tried to consider what Paige would say in situations like these, "You and Toby?"

"What about it?" Happy started to put up her guard. She continued tinkering.

"Is this a recent, um, a recent development?" Walter tried to hide the smirk forming on his lips. He didn't know why, but he found the situation quite amusing; it was probably because it was the _last_ thing he had expected from his two friends. He was pretty sure Happy didn't even _like_ Toby; she was always turning him down so Walter assumed Toby's infatuation was one sided. Obviously, he was recognizing the fact that he was wrong about his assumption.

"Look," Happy placed her hands on her desk and glanced up at Walter, "You don't want to be asked about _your_ sex life so don't ask about mine."

"Okay." Walter nodded with a shrug and then started towards the stairs.

"Walt." Happy called out to him.

"Hm?" He stopped midway up the stairs and peered over the railing.

"Glad you're home." Happy gave Walter a small smile before returning to her project.

"Thanks." Walter gave her a thumb's up; as he headed up the stairs again, she called his name once more. "Yeah?"

"I know this might come as a shocker to you, but I've grown to admire Paige over the last several months. She's cool. And…a good friend." Happy said as if she was approving of Walter's relationship with the woman she was mentioning. "So," Happy glanced back at him, " _since_ she's a good friend and because I like Ralph too," she picked up her hammer and waved it at the 197 IQ genius, "you better not drive her away. If you do, I won't hesitate chucking this hammer at your head." Walter gulped. "Got it?"

"Copy that." Walter scratched the back of his neck. "Is that all?"

"For now." Happy nodded and then peered down at her masterpiece.

Walter swallowed the lump in his throat and pressed his lips together as he finished his ascent. When he arrived to his private quarters, Ralph was already sleeping on the inflatable mattress, and Paige was fast asleep under the covers of his bed. He was a little peeved that she was sleeping on _his_ side of the bed, but he decided to let it go for the night and would be sure to inform her of her tiny transgression in the morning. He was too exhausted to care about it enough to wake her up and complain. He quietly left for the bathroom and brushed his teeth; then he crept back to his quarters and stripped out of his clothes save for his boxers. He gently pulled the covers back before slipping into the bed next to Paige. It felt a little weird for someone else to be sleeping in his bed as well, but he was willing to get used to the feeling. As if Paige knew he had joined her in the bed, she shifted in the bed and turned towards him.

"I thought you were sleeping," Walter whispered, not wanting to wake up Ralph with his statement.

"I was resting my eyes as I waited for you," Paige muttered softly as she propped herself on her elbow and leaned over him. She caressed his cheek with her other palm and brought her lips to his. "Goodnight, Walter," she mumbled against his lips and then kissed him once…, twice…, before planting her cheek against the right side of his chest.

"Goodnight," he uttered quietly as she closed her eyes. He touched his lips to her forehead as she snuggled closer to him, curling her leg over his in the process. He closed his eyes as Paige laced her fingers with his and made note of how comforting the soft silky material felt as it pressed against his flesh. "Sweet dreams."

**~ SCORPION ~**

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**WriterFreak001:**

One more chapter of this story left!

Before I resume Mind Games, I came up with a one-shot idea I would like to write first. :)

Please let me know what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

**WriterFreak001:**

Yup! This is the final chapter! :) Thank you to all of you who have supported this fanfiction throughout the last two weeks! I had a blast writing it, and even though the episode was NOTHING like this story (which is absolutely okay because "L0ve Boat" was beautiful the way it was), I am glad people are enjoying it. :D

I plan on writing a one-shot after this chapter influenced by the most recent episode; it will be a scene my mind has created that I wish the show would have explored in "Love Boats" but didn't. In any case, I hope you like the epilogue. :D

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**WARNING:**

**Readers' Discretion is advised! (now you can't say I didn't warn ya!)**

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**Title** | Love Boat

**Fandom** | _Scorpion_ (CBS)

**Description** | Influenced by the synopsis of 1x16 "Love Boat."

**Rating** | This FanFiction will be rated T as a safety precaution.

**POV** | Limited Third Person

**Disclaimer** | While CBS owns _**Scorpion**_ , I am the owner of this masterpiece.

**Claimer** | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something _should_ be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

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" **I thought you were sleeping," Walter whispered, not wanting to wake up Ralph with his statement.**

" **I was resting my eyes as I waited for you," Paige muttered softly as she propped herself on her elbow and leaned over him. She caressed his cheek with her other palm and brought her lips to his. "Goodnight, Walter," she mumbled against his lips and then kissed him once…, twice…, before planting her cheek against the right side of his chest.**

" **Goodnight," he uttered quietly as she closed her eyes. He touched his lips to her forehead as she snuggled closer to him, curling her leg over his in the process. He closed his eyes as Paige laced her fingers with his and made note of how comforting the soft silky material felt as it pressed against his flesh. "Sweet dreams."**

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**Love Boat**

**Written by WriterFreak001**

** **

**Chapter 14 - EPILOGUE**

**~ SCORPION ~**

The next two days for the members of Scorpion were pretty laid back; the only projects they had to do between the cruise crisis and Valentine's Day was a security detail for a Valentine's Day event in Hollywood and finish getting the garage ready for the party Paige was coordinating. Ralph's Valentine's Day party at his school went well; the boy did as his mother had suggested, and Sophie smiled at him and said she would see him on Monday. Needless to say, Ralph – for once – was actually looking forward to school the following Monday.

Saturday finally came, and the team was busy making all of the last minute preparations for the party. While Cabe, Sylvester and Megan selected the music, Happy, Toby and Ralph were assigned to game duty since Paige had no idea which kinds of games would be appropriate for a Valentine's Day party populated with geniuses. Meanwhile, Walter and Paige worked on the food. Even though the 197 IQ genius wasn't much of a cook, his task _did_ give him a reason to spend some time with Paige, and he followed every instruction she gave him.

"Out of curiosity," Paige dipped her finger into the leftover cookie dough and licked her finger, "before you hired me onto the team, did you guys cook _at_ all?" She scooped another finger-full of the raw substance into her mouth as Walter's face contorted when she offered him some.

"No thank you," Walter grimaced while Paige plopped the chunk of dough into her mouth. "Cookie dough is a hub for various kinds of bacteria; I'd rather not put _that_ in my mouth."

"Who are you," Paige laughed as she placed the bowl down on the counter, "Sylvester?" She rinsed her fingers off underneath the faucet, dried them and then hooked her arms around Walter's neck. "First of all, the chances of that bacteria actually affecting you are slim to none. After all of the times I've consumed raw cookie dough, I've _never_ gotten sick."

"There's a first time for everything," Walter forced a laugh as Paige rolled her eyes.

"You're such a cynic." She lightly smacked him on the cheek before unhooking her arms from around his neck to check on the cookies in the oven.

"No," Walter followed her, "I'm a realist."

"That too," she laughed and set the timer for a few more minutes. She then snaked her arms around his torso and added, "You never answered my question, Walter."

Walter took a few seconds and replayed the last minute of conversation within his mind until Paige's query repeated itself. "We cooked, some." Walter rested his palms against her arms, "But not a lot. Mostly we either ordered pizza or ate out."

"Sounds… _healthy_." Paige chuckled. "Do you even _know_ what the four basic food groups are?"

Walter lifted an eyebrow and an intrigued smile found his lips. "Are you seriously asking me if I know that?"

"It was _rhetorical_ ," Paige laughed, grabbing his face and playfully squeezing it before giving him a quick kiss. "Of course I know you know what they are." She reached over towards the bowl of cookie dough, scooped up its contents onto her finger and dabbed it onto his nose. His face scrunched together in disgust as Paige quickly released him and circled over to the fridge to pull out the icing. After she placed two tubs of icing on the table, she took out the cookies and placed them on the counter. When she turned around, Walter caught her by surprise by dumping a handful of confectioner sugar over her head, covering Paige's hair, face, neck and shirt with sweet, fluffy goodness. Her mouth fell open, and she froze in response to Walter's rare, playful behavior. At first, Walter didn't know how she would respond; by her expression, he couldn't tell if she was angry or just utterly shocked. Finally she spoke. "Oh, no you did _not_ just pour powdered sugar all over my head."

Walter's lips folded inwards as he tried to stifle his oncoming laugh. Before he could anticipate her next move, Paige reached over and grabbed the chocolate syrup sitting on the counter, popped it open and drizzled the gooey sauce all over Walter's hair; then she rubbed it all over his face. He found the Reddi-wip and squirted half of its contents down Paige's shirt; she released a quiet gasp when the cold cream fell into her cleavage. As Paige approached Walter with a sly smirk on her face, Walter took a step backwards and slipped on a puddle of chocolate sauce before hitting the floor. He grimaced from the pain in his shoulder, but when Paige pressed her body against his and pulled him into a hot, messy kiss, his eyes popped wide open. For the next several minutes, they were in their own little world and forgot that they weren't the only ones in the garage.

"You have _no_ idea what wicked things I want to do to you right now," Paige muttered into Walter's ear before she lolled her tongue into his mouth and ran her fingers through his mushy hair. Walter held Paige against him with one arm and then turned them over until he was on top of her. Walter's hands slid underneath Paige's blouse as they hungrily kissed one another; his palms fondled her padded breasts, and as Paige started pulling at Walter's shirt, they heard a very familiar, gravelly voice clear his throat.

Walter and Paige froze for a few seconds before they turned to see the entire group staring at them with different expressions. Cabe was tapping his foot impatiently with folded arms and a lifted eyebrow; Megan was giving Walter a thumb's up; Sylvester was appalled while his hands covered Ralph's eyes as his thumbs plugged the boy's ears; Happy was smirking, and Toby was acting as though he had won the lottery as he held his phone in front of him.

"Now _this_ , my friends, is what I'd like to call a sticky situation." Toby hooted with laughter as he continued to film Walter and Paige with his phone.

"All right!" Cabe exclaimed, "Scatter!" Happy was the first to leave, and Sylvester quickly carried Ralph away from the scene while Megan hobbled her way towards the two. Toby walked up towards a mortified Walter and Paige and as he was about to say something, Cabe stepped in front of the shrink and ordered him to scram effectively and immediately. The behaviorist didn't think twice about defying Cabe and scurried off towards Happy. Cabe looked at Walter and Paige and frowned. "Care to explain why the two of you look like a Chocolate Fudge Sundae?"

Walter and Paige simultaneously shook their heads as they straightened up and rose to their feet.

"Go upstairs and clean up." Cabe ordered. "I'll clean up this mess, and then the two of _you_ can go to the store and buy us some new desserts."

"I still have to make the main entrée." Paige frowned as she folded her arms in front of her and took a step towards Cabe.

"No way," Cabe shook his head. "I think it's safe to say we're having pizza tonight." The agent shook his head in dismay and headed for the broom closet where the team kept their cleaning supplies.

Paige sighed as she and Walter walked shamefully up the stairs towards the loft, knowing neither one of them was ever going to hear the end of it from Toby.

**~ SCORPION ~**

For the most part, the party was very successful; because it was filled with intellectually-engaging activities, the geniuses were all able to join in on the fun too. At one point, Toby suggested they play Strip Twister or Spin the Bottle, but he was quickly rejected by the other members of the team. By ten at night, Cabe and Megan said their goodbyes; Megan was growing tired, and Cabe offered to take her back to the hospital. The kiss on the cheek Megan had given Sylvester before she left did _not_ go unnoticed by Walter, but he wasn't going to let Megan's growing affection for his best friend bother him – no matter _how_ awkward it did feel for him.

Toby and Happy retired for the night not long after Cabe and Megan left, and Sylvester headed up for the loft himself. Ralph was already sleeping upstairs on the inflatable mattress Walter had left out for him.

"So," Paige leaned her head on Walter's shoulder as they lounged about on the red couch, "what did you think of the party?"

"To be honest," Walter forced a laugh, "it was a _lot_ better than I thought it was going to be."

"Admit it, Walter," Paige smirked as she caressed his cheek, "you had fun."

"I'll admit that I _did_ find most of the activities quite amusing and intellectually entertaining…." Walter's voice faded as he looked away from Paige.

"But…?"

"But there was one thing that was missing." Walter slightly shrugged as he rose to his feet and pulled Paige up with him. Yes, there was certainly one thing missing, and he – with Cabe's help – came up with something special for the woman, especially since Paige valued the tradition of Valentine's Day. While Walter still found the holiday bogus, he was beginning to recognize its ascribed value, and because he knew _Paige_ celebrated Valentine's Day, he was willing to give into the festivities in order to please her. He led Paige up to the roof, and at first, she was clueless as to why Walter brought her up there, but after he clicked something, music – the _same_ piece that was playing when Walter and Paige danced together for the first time at that gallery funding event – she smiled and pulled Walter into her arms. She guided him to the center of the roof where they began to slowly dance with one another.

"This is nice, Walter." Paige muttered before giving him a short, chaste kiss to express her gratitude to him. "Thank you."

"Cabe helped," Walter said, not wanting to take all of the credit. "You know me," he forced another laugh, "I'm not that great with things like this."

"And I wouldn't change a _single_ thing about you," Paige smiled as moonlight glimmered in her eyes. "So," she weaved her fingers into his hair, "have your initial opinions about Valentine's Day changed since Monday?"

"Uh," Walter paused; he really didn't _know_ what to say to woman, "I guess a little bit."

"Which part?"

"I still think Valentine's Day was established to support the greeting card industry, but taking that experiment you had me do into account, I _do_ recognize the fact that just because _I_ do not find value in Valentine's Day, it doesn't mean others don't. You see the holiday's value," Walter shrugged slightly. "I guess that's all that really matters."

Paige smiled and pulled him into a deep kiss.

"What was that for?" Walter inquired as she pulled away.

"Am I not allowed to kiss my boyfriend on Valentine's Day?" Paige lifted an eyebrow and laughed at Walter's dumbfounded expression.

He tried to think of a good comeback but couldn't think of anything witty to say. "B-boyfriend?"

Paige lifted her eyebrow. "After everything we've done in the past week, are you seriously questioning our relationship?"

"What? Oh. No." Walter quickly answered as chills ran up the back of his neck. "I, uh, I j-just, um, I just l-like hearing y-you, uh, y-you s-s-say it."

"Good answer, 197." Paige laughed and then kissed him hard on the mouth.

Walter really didn't know what his relationship with Paige was going to be like in the next five to ten years, but one thing was for certain: Walter O'Brien _wanted_ a life with Paige and her son, Ralph. And for now, that absolute certainty was surely enough to satisfy Walter.

**~ SCORPION ~**

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**WriterFreak001:**

Aaaaand Donnnnne!

Thank you for following this story all the way through! I had fun writing it.

Side note: I will be out of town for an entire week; I don't know if I will be able to post anything during that time, but I promise I will post whatever I've written during my vacation the moment I have Wi-Fi access. :D

 


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